A nearby rustling roused her from what felt like the dead. The sensation of being naked underneath soft covers registered next. And though she was snugly bundled, there was a slight chill to her flesh, as though the temperature within her cocoon had recently dropped.

After rubbing her eyes, she blearily glanced around, surprised to find she was in Cortez’s room. In his bed.

Alone.

Well, not quite.

She spotted Cortez across the room, standing in front of a mirror as he knotted a dark tie at his collar. His crisp suit was tailored to his glorious form, sleek and powerful. His hair was styled in its usual deliberately mussed fashion, perfect for running her nails through—a privilege she’d never get to experience again.

He met her gaze in the mirror.

“The VEA is here,” he said in a brusque tone, deftly fashioning the last loop and tightening the knot close to his Adam’s apple.

“Oh,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward. She didn’t know where she stood with him. Did he still want her out of his club, never to return? She barely even remembered their time in the shower. Just that he’d been very clinical about cleaning the blood off the both of them. She should have taken advantage of the moment. Committed every inch of his glorious body to memory. It was very likely the last time she’d be in such close, intimate proximity.

Actually, she was surprised to be in his room. In his bed, no less.

He must have been equally exhausted not to bother setting her up in an unoccupied room somewhere else in the hotel. She had no idea what changing a person into a vampire entailed, but those dark circles under his eyes were an indication. Had he slept at all? She barely felt as though she had.

“They’re on their way up to interview you,” he added.

She jerked upright and then clutched the covers to her neck. “To interview me?” Heavy tendrils of her hair spilled over her shoulders. She ran her fingers through it, realizing it was still damp. Outside, the early morning sun had just cleared the horizon.

He tossed a pair of men’s sweatpants and a T-shirt at her. She clumsily caught the bundle against her chest.

“Get dressed. Quickly.”

She considered the outfit. “You want me to look like a slob while you get to look like that?”

“You’ve just been traumatized. No one expects you to be in an evening gown. And I’m the leader of my clan,” he continued. “Right now, I have to look it.”

A knock sounded from the entryway. Here already?

“Get dressed,” he ordered.

She bristled, but crawled her way into the oversized shirt.

Before he disappeared into the living room, he said in a hushed tone, “Do not reveal that your brother and Goldie live. No matter what. Understand?”

“Um, okay. Why?”

“No time to explain. As far as anyone is concerned, they died. Got it?”

She nodded, but her gut twisted. Why would he want to conceal that information? “Who was the second woman? The one who didn’t make it?”

His expression softened. “She was identified as Tiffany Felcot, an employee at—”

“Dante’s Pit,” she finished for him. Poor Tiffany. Why would Dante drag her into this too?

Cortez left to greet whoever was at the door. In the next instant, she heard him curse. “What is he doing here?”

A voice she didn’t recognize answered, “He’s been accused, and is, in turn, accusing you of the crimes committed here.”

The fuck? On her way to the door, she half ran, half hopped as she shoved one foot into the sweats, then the other.

Dante’s cool tone caused an all-stop. “I’ve longed to be invited back to Ever Nights. Pity it’s under such deplorable circumstances.”

He’s here? The shit-bag that had nearly murdered her brother was here. Just feet away. Her palms itched for a weapon.

“You haven’t been invited,” Cortez fired back.

“Where is the female?” The unfamiliar voice demanded.

“Naia,” Cortez called. “Come out here, please.”

“Ah,” Dante said. “Here comes the little spy now.”

Huh? Now she was confused. Was Dante admitting to hiring her?

In a stern tone, Cortez said. “She has been through a trauma.”

She peeked out the door where three vampires stood: Cortez, Dante, and one she didn’t recognize. The VEA agent Cortez spoke of?

He was taller than Cortez by about six inches. His hair was dark, cut short, and framed his hard-chiseled features. Though he wore a suit, she got the impression he would feel more comfortable in fatigues with an M16 in one hand and a Glock in the other.

Wringing her fingers, she stepped closer.

Dante’s eyes flashed. “Yes, this is the one Cortez hired to infiltrate my club.”

“He what now?” Clearly she’d heard wrong. “You’re trying to say Cortez was the one who wanted me to spy? On you? Whatever for?”

“He’s been trying to close me down for years. To run me out of town. I suppose he figured on using you to plant evidence that he could later use as blackmail against me.” He faced Cortez. “But you’ve taken it too far, old man.”

“Dante,” Cortez coldly countered. “How many times have I told you, your scheming and deceit will be your downfall. You are a slave to your hate and anger and selfishness.”

Thinly veiled rage coated Dante’s expression. “You are the selfish one! Perhaps if you hadn’t banished me from the clan in the first place, you wouldn’t have brought us to this low point. You have your own anger and hate to blame.”

Cortez sighed. “I never hated you. I merely saw through you. And it took me far too long to do that.”

Naia’s eyes volleyed between the two as they argued like.... Realization sparked. She gaped at Cortez. “You’re his sire?”

Cortez clenched his fists. “The worst decision I ever made. And the last vampire I ever changed.” His gaze darted to her and back so fast she almost didn’t catch it. Last vampire…till today.

She reminded herself she was supposed to believe her brother was dead. Was supposed to be distraught. Not a difficulty. Not only was she red-eyed from exhaustion, slightly dizzy too, and was probably still in shock from the night’s events, but a life had been lost…because of this bastard.

She openly glared at Dante. “You’re trying to frame your own sire?” Even she knew that was a major no-no in the vampire world. For whatever reason, makers were sacred among their kind—not all vamps had the ability to turn a human.

“What’s this?” the VEA agent replied, a strangely amused curl to one side of his mouth. “Is this karma I see unfolding before my eyes?”

Cortez gritted his teeth. “At least when I absconded, I had the decency and respect to put several states between us, Trent.”

Naia’s brain stutter-stepped. “You can’t be serious. He’s your sire?” This was the ass-hat who changed Cortez against his will? That’s why she sensed subzero temperatures between them.

She recalled wanting to hurt this man on Cortez’s behalf, but judging by the size of him, she’d need a bulldozer and C-4 explosives to do it. The man was a Viking in a suit.

Before he could cover it, she registered Dante’s shocked expression. Was this news to him too? Had something like worry just crossed his features? The VEA agent was his grand-sire.

Perhaps this turn of events was a notch in their favor—

Trent confirmed the association with a grudging nod. “And before Cortez deserted his birth clan, he stole something precious from me. Something priceless and irretrievable.”

Perhaps not.

Dante relaxed, smugness returning to his features.

Great. Two vampires with a grudge against Cortez; one with real power to do something about it.

“Okay, so this is an unhappy family reunion,” said Naia, then faced Trent, her shoulders back. “What can I do to clear Cortez and get this asshole thrown into vampire prison, or jail, or wherever it is you put murdering lying bastards?”

Trent considered her for a moment, a disconcerting curl returning to his lips. “Merely tell me your side of the story.”

Easy enough. She began when Dante offered her the seven grand to try and get a job at Ever Nights. How he suggested all the terrible things Cortez was up to in order to encourage her participation.

Dante shook his head. “I have evidence to the contrary.”

“Oh?” Trent said.

Dante turned to Naia. “Did you forget you came to me last night to confess your crimes and admit what Cortez was up to? You said you couldn’t stand the lies anymore.” He retrieved his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen. Her voice jumped from the tiny speakers. “The money is generous...but it’s just not worth the risk. I’m not cut out for spying on people. And I can’t stand the lies. I don’t want to do it anymore. I can’t. It’s not right. Besides, I don’t believe there’s anything for me to find, anyway.”

“That wasn’t a confession!” she cried. “That was me telling you that I couldn’t continue to spy on Cortez.”

“I’m not sure why you’re backtracking now.” Dante’s expression softened. “If he’s threatened you, you can tell us. We can protect you from him.”

“That’s an oddly short recording,” Cortez observed. “Only a few sentences captured at the exact right moment. I wonder how the rest of that conversation went.”

“He practically threatened me,” Naia declared. “And then tried to bribe me with money, not that it was going to change my mind.”

Dante cleared his throat. “I gave you that money so you could afford to go into hiding with your brother. Alas, you had come to me too late, as it would seem.” His lips formed an I’m-so-sorry tilt that she wanted to smack right off his face.

“You kidnapped my brother! Had him tortured! Explain that!”

“I think you’re confused,” Dante replied, actually looking as though he pitied her. “I’m sorry for your loss, but I was nowhere near Ever Nights when those poor people were killed.”

Her jaw snapped shut. She looked to Cortez for the assist. His lips were pressed in a hard line. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

She turned back to Dante. “You sent me a picture of my brother beaten and bloody and then warned me to do what you asked.” That terrible moment was locked in a dark cell in her mind, beating the walls with an urgency that wouldn’t cease till she laid eyes on Cole. Until she saw that he was alive and well. That wasn’t going to happen unless Dante was dealt with here and now.

“Did I? From a phone that had been given to your brother by none other than Cortez? Taken and sent from this very location? The device found in the boy’s pants pocket? If that were the case, I’d have had to physically be here at some point. Besides, I have witnesses who will vouch for my whereabouts all night, and all last week if need be.”

Again she looked at Cortez for help. Jaw clenched, he remained silent.

She understood then. It had to have been Marco who’d taken and sent the picture, and the text, and probably did the beating as well. She recalled something Cortez had said to her on his island: I could be held responsible for any crime committed by a member of my clan. Dante was setting Cortez up, and using their own vampiric laws to take him down. For some reason, Marco had done Dante’s dirty work, leaving Dante to establish an alibi. But why?

Dante gave a shrug, as though he were at a loss. “It only makes sense that Cortez discovered you wanted out of his little charade, might have even discovered you’d come to me to confess and grew enraged. He then threatened you and killed your brother. We can only assume he’s holding something else over your head now. Your own life perhaps.” He held out his hand as if she would go to him. “It would be a shame if something terrible were to happen to you.”

Was that a threat? She sidled closer to Cortez, and Dante dropped his hand with a smirk.

Finally Cortez spoke. “I’m curious how you got Marco to betray me, but I suspect we’ll never know. He’s mysteriously vanished. Did you have him killed?”

“I should be asking you that.”

“In any case, something tells me not even his body will turn up.”

Dante shrugged. “Only you would know.”

“You must realize this will end badly for you.”

“If the evidence is anything to go by, seems to me it will end badly for you. Sire or not, agent Lockhart here is an enforcer, and he’ll have to do his job.”

Trent finally spoke up. “The man is right, Cortez. You know the law. You know what I have to do.”

Cortez sighed and gestured toward Naia. “Be my guest.”

“W-what’s going on?”

Trent stepped forward. “No need to worry. I have the ability to reverse the compulsion of any vampire I have sired. If Cortez has compelled you to lie, we’ll know shortly.”

Her chin hiked a notch. “He wouldn’t.” Would he? She’d know if she’d been compelled. Wouldn’t she? Doubt crept in as she glanced at Cortez. He caught her uncertain gaze, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.

“Look at me, Naia.” Trent’s tone turned soothing, hypnotic. “Is all that you’ve said tonight the truth?”

“Yes.” She nodded. Was she being compelled even now? How was one to know? She didn’t feel any different.

“Who is the one responsible for the bloodbath downstairs?”

His verbiage brought the memory rushing back at once—Goldie drained and dying. Cole beaten and bloodied—and she flinched. “It was Dante. He’s the one behind all of this.”

Trent blinked, his eyes widening infinitesimally. They narrowed in the next instant. Why? Did he not like her answer? “Bend over and touch your toes.”

She canted her head. “Huh? Why?”

His lips parted in an O and then spread in a slow, menacing grin. Not at all a happy one. “She’s a lurela.”

Cortez went slack jawed, his arms dropping to his sides. Dante appeared...smug?

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means no vampire, not even I, can compel you. You’re immune.”

Immune to compulsion? She hadn’t realized there was such a thing. Nor that they had a name for it. She instantly comprehended two important facts. One: by Cortez’s response, he hadn’t even known, which meant he’d never attempted to compel her. Gold star for Cortez. Two: Dante had known all along which meant he had tried—she must not have behaved as he’d expected, giving her away. Was that the day the seeds of his plan had been planted?

“Interesting,” Dante drew out the word as if he’d had no clue. “So we can never know if she’s lying.”

“So it would seem,” Trent concurred.

“I have to give you credit, Dante.” Cortez said. “You really thought this one through.”

“You can stop trying to insinuate I had anything to do with this. You’ve been caught, sire. It’s time for you to accept your punishment.” He glanced at Trent as if commanding him to get on with it.

Naia’s pulse jumped. Surely they wouldn’t pass judgment with so little to go on.

“You’ve made your case,” Cortez said to Dante. “It’s my turn. I postulate this was nothing more than a scheme to get back at me for disavowing you.”

Dante shook his head. “I hold no animosity toward you.”

“If that were true, I wonder why you started a business that mirrored mine only a handful of miles away? Essentially becoming my direct competitor.”

“You don’t mess with a winning formula.”

“Only you aren’t winning, are you? You’re going into debt. Your company is failing.”

Dante pursed his lips.

“For some reason, you blame that on me.”

“Because you’ll do anything to keep me down,” Dante snapped.

Cortez slashed his head back and forth. “Until last night, I couldn’t have been less concerned with you or your little Pit.”

“You lie. You poach my customers every chance you get.”

As though speaking to a child, Cortez replied, “I run a club that people enjoy. Nothing more.”

Naia blurted, “Yeah, it’s not his fault that your club sucks, Dante.”

Dante’s gaze slashed toward her, his lips twisted into a snarl, fangs displayed.

Eyes flashing, fangs gleaming, Cortez stepped in front of her, his features more menacing than ever.

Hands seated in his pockets, Trent took center stage. “Let’s keep it civilized, gentlemen. Cortez, why do you believe Dante would want to frame you?”

Cortez eased his stance, but stayed close. “Our animosity goes way back.”

Trent hummed in a you-don’t-say kind of way. Naia studied his cold gaze and rigid features. He held himself in a way that put her on edge. Like at any moment he was prepared to produce an automatic weapon and mow them all down. Plus there seemed to be an arctic chilliness between him and Cortez. What had Trent meant about Karma?

Cortez continued. “When I discovered Dante was starting to read minds like me, I paid him more attention.”

“You tried to keep me from using my ability,” Dante spat.

Trent barely glanced at Dante, his scrutiny was all for Cortez, his stony expression indecipherable. A new kind of nervous energy skittered through Naia. Had the VEA agent already passed judgment?

Cortez faced Dante. “I tried to help you control it. It took me years to learn how to avoid accidentally pulling private thoughts from someone’s mind. Though I still struggle with that from time to time, I had hoped to teach you how to self-govern. But you refused to listen. You were more interested in exploiting your gift. You saw it as a power to be used to your benefit, no matter the cost.” He sighed, appearing saddened and disappointed. “You became power hungry. Cruel. When I could no longer condone your actions, I had every right to end you. Instead, I let you live, and simply disavowed you.”

“You kicked me out! Of my own home. You took everything from me.”

“I was wrong,” Cortez said on a heavy sigh. Naia could hardly believe her ears. Even Dante looked taken aback. Then Cortez lifted a chilly gaze. “I should have killed you that day.”

Dante’s lips peeled back into a sneer. “Perhaps you should have.” Then he seemed to remember himself. He let his shoulders drop and affected a casual stance. “Maybe I became cruel after you exiled me, but you turned out homicidal, didn’t you? Tell me again. How many dead bodies did they find in your basement?”

Cortez clasped his hands behind his back. “Your anger toward me wasn’t really because I’d disavowed you. You were planning to leave anyway. But not until you dug a secret out of my head. And that’s what all this is really about.”

“Oh?” Dante was completely shuttered now, but there was a nasty glint in his eyes, as though he thought any minute now Trent was going to arrest Cortez for mass-murder and he could dance a jig in the privacy of his new club. Naia wasn’t positive that wasn’t exactly what was about to go down.

“What you wanted was the secret to creating a vampire,” Cortez muttered.

There was a frozen moment.

Trent crossed his arms and cocked his head at Cortez. Still, there was something in his gaze that she couldn’t interpret, but it didn’t bode well.

Cortez noticed too, but went on, speaking directly to Dante. “You might be able to block me from reading your mind now, but you couldn’t back then. Not like you thought you could. You wanted to start your own clan.... Although, that isn’t exactly correct, is it? You wanted to birth your own minions. Slaves to do your bidding. I almost confronted you the night I gleaned that from your thoughts, but I more than anyone know thoughts can be random, fleeting, even at times unwanted. So, to verify my suspicions, I fed you incorrect information to see what you’d do and so that I might judge your actions. And what did you do?”

Dante’s jaw winched tight, his glare dangerous.

Undaunted, Cortez answered for him. “Not but a few hours later, you tried to turn your most loyal human.... Well, I wouldn’t call him a friend since you considered him more of a pet.”

“You tricked me,” Dante accused, fists clenching.

“When you discovered you’d been duped, you were furious and vowed revenge upon me and all that I love. And so here we are, in the midst of a devious plot—even for you—to take me down. If you succeed this day in proving my guilt, not that you will, Trent would have no choice but to execute me, and possibly the rest of my clan as well, leaving Ever Nights free for the taking. Do you see yourself sitting in my chair, Dante? Ruling my empire?”

Fury cracked through Dante’s mask. “I couldn’t care less about this place. And I don’t need to prove your guilt. The evidence speaks for itself.” He glanced at Trent who made no reply, a stoic observer waiting to pass judgment. Or so it would seem.

Cortez inhaled a wearied breath and let it out slowly. “I wish I had seen sooner what a hollow person you are. You’ve no qualms about trying to have three innocent people killed, and plotting to pin their deaths on me. And I’m sad to say you might have actually succeeded.”

A triumphant micro-grin lifted Dante’s features and sparked delight in his eyes, but it was clear he was trying to hide it from Trent. Not that it mattered when Trent only seemed interested in glaring at Cortez like he’d insulted the man’s mama.

That’s when Cortez dropped the bomb. “Except you didn’t count on two of your victims surviving.”

Dante frowned, his eyes shifting from Cortez to Naia. She couldn’t contain the barest of grins. Surprise, fucker.

Finally Trent’s attention strolled over to Dante, one scrutinizing brow raised.

“Goldie’s statement has already been recorded,” Cortez informed Dante. “According to her, you compelled her to come here so that Marco could drain her dry. Sick fuck that you are made her remain completely aware of her own actions. Like I said, cruel. Once Cole wakes up, I have no doubt his account will be similar.”

Naia’s throat tightened and air inflow restricted. Once he wakes up? Her eyes must have bugged, or maybe she’d made a small choking sound, because Cortez placed his palm on her shoulder.

Dante balked. “See how uneasy she is at his touch, agent Lockart? If he’s not using compulsion, then he’s somehow coerced these poor people to lie for him.” Even as he spoke, he subtly inched toward the door.

Trent decided to finally enter the conversation. “Another interesting fact that you may not know, Dante: as I can reverse the compulsion of my sired vampires, estranged or otherwise, I too can reverse the compulsion of any vampire they themselves have sired.”

Dante swallowed, taking another, guilty step back.

“I’ve spoken with your employees already. You’ve been a very naughty boy.”

Dante lunged for the door.

With blinding speed and a snarl that sent a shiver of terror down Naia’s spine, Trent caught the bastard around the neck, lifting him several feet off the ground.

Red-faced, Dante struggled uselessly against Trent’s hold, fly to the spider. “You mudder fugger,” he pushed through his compressed windpipe. Trent only squeezed harder.

“Not here,” Cortez growled, looking a little savage himself. “She’s seen enough horrors.”

Trent’s fearsome gaze snapped to Naia. The veil of civility was sliced away by the sight of his razor-sharp fangs and murderous expression, a beast preparing to make his kill. The sudden painful leaping in her chest was a primordial reaction. Prey to predator. She tried to slow the racing of her pulse, but it was like trying to halt a stampede with the power of one’s palm. They could both hear her heart revving out of control...and it was exciting them.

Like an animal, Trent cocked his head at her, keeping Dante’s toiling body aloft as though he were a doll of fluff batting at a granite statue.

“Neither of them can read your mind,” Trent muttered, his tone no longer cool and reasonable, but roughened and barely human. “Why is that?”

“I-I don’t know.”

He smiled, but it was more frightening than friendly. He didn’t believe her, but seemed to understand she wouldn’t admit to anything unless she was forced to. “I’ve ignored protocol as a favor to Cortez. You are both indebted to me this day. I will require a favor of you in the future. You will not deny me.”

That didn’t sound good.

Trent’s intense gaze swept to Cortez. “Agreed?”

Cortez stared at his sire for a long while before answering. “Agreed.”