Our flight is delayed, and we end up in Ottawa hours after we were supposed to arrive. From the airport, we drive to Stratford in a rented car. It’s big and black and completely unnecessary, but Sebastian has a type when it comes to cars.

Though the flight was short, it’s been a long day, and I didn’t exactly sleep well last night. I remember having sex with Sebastian, and my cheeks flame. Sebastian, as if he has my embarrassment on radar, smirks at me.

“You’re glowing.”

I assume he means my cheeks. I cover them and hide my face by turning away.

“That’s not what I meant, although I do love it when blood rushes to your cheeks.”

“Can you see my aura?” I hold out my hands, and balls of white light sit on my palms, glowing brightly. Normally, my aura surrounds me like golden steam seeping from my pores. This is different.

“I don’t know about an aura, but I see the balls of light you hold in your hands right now. I’ve seen them before, many years ago.”

“Penelope,” I whisper. I move my hands. The orbs circle my fingers like rolling balls. I wave my hands back around, and they slide over my fingers and back and forth from the back of my hand to my palm. “Huh. Do you know what they do?”

“Well, Penelope used to throw them at people. They’d burst into flames. For a vampire, it’s not all that pleasant. We have few weaknesses, and fire is one of them.”

“You’ll have to figure out how to put them away, though. If I can see them, the rest of the world can too.”

“Fantastic. My magic comes when I need it, when I don’t, but never when I want it.”

I sit in the car with my hands in my lap, palms up. I take a deep breath and concentrate hard, but the light won’t go away. Frustrated, I mutter a curse and try to shake them off. Not a good idea. They fly from my hands and hit the dash. Though the dash doesn’t burst into flames, the plastic starts to cook and turns black with ash.

Sebastian pulls over quickly. A driver honks his horn and screams out his window as he sails by. I lower the window to get rid of the wretched smell of burned plastic.

“Emily…”

“Don’t say it. I know. I’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe you’re not ready.”

“No,” I say firmly. I focus harder and curl my fists tight. When I open them, the glowing orbs are there again. “Look, there. I have it now.”

He nods, not entirely convinced. He runs a hand through his hair and leans his head back against the headrest. “Make it go away.”

I close my eyes and concentrate, curling my fists tight. I peek through my lashes as I open my hands to see if it’s disappeared, and just like that, it’s gone. “See? Progress.”

He puts the car in drive and pulls back out onto the road. His worry is so strong his light touches mine. I try to help him work through it by taking his hand, but it seems he’s in no mood for that and pulls away. Feeling rejected, I turn away from him, but he cups my chin and forces me to look in his direction. He leans forward to press a quick kiss to my lips. I don’t even worry we’ll crash. It’s like he has eyes in the side of his head, and when we break away the car is still dead center in the lane. The kiss relaxes us. I can’t decide if he did it for him or me—maybe both of us. Either way, I appreciate it more than words can say, and my dejected feelings vanish.

It takes another ten minutes to get to the hotel. Sebastian takes me shopping for some much-needed clothes. I didn’t even pack a bag because I basically had nothing to pack. Going home isn’t a great idea just yet, but I can’t wait to go after all this is over. In two days. Though it’s dark when we get back to the hotel and I’m ready for bed, Sebastian has other ideas.

And not the sexy kind.

I’m almost finished with the hamburger and fries I ordered from room service when he’s hurrying me to finish. “I don’t know how you can eat cooked meat like that.”

“I don’t like mine bloody.”

He waggles his eyebrows. “That’s where all the flavor is.”

I roll my eyes and shove the last bite in my mouth. “Where are we going? Please, no more shopping.”

“You’re the only woman I’ve met who doesn’t enjoy it. You wanted clothes, but as soon as you gathered an armload of the first clothes you saw, you were done.”

“What can I say? I’m easy to please.”

“I certainly hope not. I like a challenge.”

“Anyway…” I let out a groan. “Where are we going?”

Sebastian sits on the edge of the bed and slides his feet into his shoes. He crosses one leg at the knee and ties one of them. It’s such a human thing to do that it almost seems wrong, like he should just step into them and they magically tie. In fact, the more I spend time with him, the more human he seems and—God help me—the more I grow to care for him.

“We’re going to do a little reconnaissance.”

That would explain why he dressed all in black, and he’s sliding his hands into gloves.

“Isn’t that a bad idea? Won’t the vampires here sense you?”

“Markus is an elder. His children avoid him unless they’re summoned. When they’re with him, they’re at his beck and call, and vampires are a little too proud and powerful to volunteer themselves as slaves. Essentially, elders are solitary except for their human companions.”

“I didn’t expect that. I figured they lived in groups or something.”

“Nope. Too much power play.” He waves to my bags of clothing. “Put on something dark. I recommend the black leggings and the tight black shirt.”

“I’ll bet you do.”

Feeling brave, I stand and start removing my clothing. He leans back on the bed to rest his upper body on his arms. His expression is serious, lustful, and when I’m in nothing but a bra and panties, he races across the room to come up behind me. His strong arms circle my waist as his lips brush against my neck. I want him to taste me, but it weakens me, and I can’t be weak right now.

I touch my hand to the side of his face and feel the bristle of his morning shadow. I like the way it’s rough against my fingertips.

“I never appreciate how cold I am until I feel the warmth of your body against mine. It reminds me how much I missed being touched,” he says softly, his lips close to my ear.

“I’m sure you’ve been touched by many women,” I say breathlessly.

“You’d be surprised. And fewer humans than you’d think.”

Vampires? I file that one away quickly. My vampire with another vampire makes me feel incredibly inadequate. Did I just think of him as mine? I slowly let go of a sigh.

“Your heartbeat is different than others, like it has its own tune. I’d recognize it anywhere.”

“Sebastian, if you want us to leave, you need to stop talking because I’m not in the mood to play vampire hunter when your lips are this close to my skin.”

It’s his turn to sigh. He presses a soft kiss against the crook of my neck, his tongue flicking out to taste me. I spin around to latch on to him, but all I get is air. I almost stumble, expecting him to be there to lean against.

He sits on the bed, his forehead creased above his red eyes, though he tries to play it cool. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

I squirm in my panties as the muscles between my legs burn with need. I need him, but he’s such a distraction, especially when I clearly remember how if felt for him to push himself inside of me and the satisfied growl he makes as he finds his release.

I snatch a pillow that has fallen on the floor and toss it at his head. He stays puts and allows me to clobber him square in the face. When the pillow falls, he wears a dopey smile that makes me laugh at him. I’m still chuckling as I pull on my leggings and tunic.

Sebastian gives me a map to navigate, but I’m not sure why he bothered. He doesn’t listen to a word I say. Instead, he listens to the old British man that speaks on his GPS. It’s infuriating, to say the least. “Why’d you give me the damn map?”

“To make you feel useful.”

Markus has a house just outside of town. It sits about a half mile off the road, and the entrance is flanked with a forest of dense trees. We pass the entrance and keep on up the road until we reach a dilapidated farmhouse and barn. The windows are all boarded up. Sebastian parks around the back.

“This is pretty close. Are you sure he won’t smell us? Or sense us?”

He shakes his head. “We’re far enough away.”

We get out of the car, and he walks to the back, to open the hatch. He had a bag slung over his shoulder when he came back to the hotel tonight, after leaving me for close to an hour. When I asked what was in the bag, he said, “It’s a surprise.” I guess I get to see what the surprise is now.

He unzips the bag, and I lean over his shoulder to watch as he pulls out some binoculars, a gun, bullets, and night-vision goggles.

“Do you really need those? Can’t you see in the dark?”

He chuckles at me. “Those are for you. I thought you’d feel left out.”

“Oh. Thanks.” He wraps a holster around my waist and puts the gun and bullets in.

“I don’t know how to use a gun,” I say simply.

He shakes his head. He pulls out the gun and gives me a quick lesson. Though I try to follow, I don’t learn quickly. I’ve never seen one in person, let alone held one, and he might as well be speaking a different language. He gets me to load and unload it a million times.

“Sebastian, I think I’ve got it.”

“Point, take off the safety, and shoot.”

I turn the gun to the side to make sure I know exactly where the safety is. “Got it.”

With the gun still in my hands, he covers my hands with his. Facing me, he forces me to put the gun over his heart, and I watch him with dread.

“Aim here.” He raises the gun to the space between his sparkling blue eyes. “Or here. Bullets won’t kill a vampire, but they’ll slow him down.”

“What will kill a vampire?” He lets go of my hands, and I lower the gun, putting it away in the holster. He reaches over to secure it with a flap and metal button.

“Your blood, but you already knew that, and decapitation. Sometimes, fire will do the trick, but vampires tend to put themselves out long before they can turn to ash.”

“I need a sword then...like Aurora Maddox in The Forgotten Daughter.” That girl could wield a sword in her sleep.

He raises a single eyebrow, the book reference lost on him. “Easy, girl. Let’s learn how to use one before you get all Buffy on me.”

I grin at him. “Were you a Buffy fan?”

He shrugs, and for the first time, I see a flush of pink on his pale cheeks. He was!

“Moving on.”

“Of course.” I slide the goggles on my head but leave them flipped up. The binos stay on a string around my neck. “What now?”

He points to the cell phone tower a few hundred yards away. “We can watch them from up there.”

I gulp air, and my palms start to sweat. “Did I forget to mention I don’t like heights?”

“Yes.” He adjusts his stance and raises an eyebrow at me, like it doesn’t even matter. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

I’m a runner, and I’m pretty fast. If there’s one thing I’m confident about, it’s being able to move fast, but the problem with my running is I’m heavy on my feet, and I’m a turtle when running alongside a vampire. While he whooshes through the forest, dodging fallen trees, bracken, and sharp bushes, I crash through and over them, and every footstep I take seems to echo through the forest like a plane falling from the sky.

When we’re a hundred yards away, he zooms back to me and stops in my path. I slow to a jog and then stop. “Is it impossible for you to be quiet?”

I glare at him. “I’m trying my best.”

Sighing, he scoops me up, and I don’t bother fighting him. Seconds later, we’re at the foot of the tower. He sets me down, his hands brushing over my ass. I highly doubt it was a mistake, and the shit-eating grin on his face confirms it.

“Was I really so loud, or were you just trying to put your arms all over me?”

“Oh, no. I’ve heard five-hundred pound polar bears tread quieter than you, but copping a feel made the threat of getting caught that much sweeter.”

I roll my eyes and approach the ladder. It’s a long way up, but I hold tight and take slow, deep breaths while refusing to look down. Sebastian stays close, his hands on the outside of the ladder and his face near my thighs. It’s as if he’s cocooning me, so he’s there to stop me if I lose my hold or footing. It almost makes the climb less scary. But then I get to the top. The ledge is barely wide enough for us to sit.

“Just pretend we’re sitting on a bench. The ground is only a few feet below.”

“I think I’m more scared of falling than I am of Markus.” I cringe as I look all the way down at the bushes and trees. My whole body tenses, and I grip one of the metal bars behind me so hard I feel my hand grow wet with blood.

“That would be a mistake.” He pries my hand from the bar, and his nostrils flare. Though his eyes blaze, he doesn’t ravage my hand. Instead, he holds it in his. “Deep breaths. In and out.”

I nod, and though it helps, it doesn’t stop my heart from racing. I force myself to focus on what we came here for, no matter how scared I am. There is too much at stake to let fear get the better of me, namely, my sister being turned into a vampire by that asshole Alexander. I tip my head, and the goggles fall over my eyes, but they don’t have the distance I need, so I ditch them for the binoculars. There are lights on in the large, two-story mansion and around the yard so I’m able to see well enough.

“I don’t get why we’re even scoping out this place. Alexander told me not to go home with him.”

“I like to plan for the worst.”

A half-dozen guards with machine guns patrol the yard, and there are dogs too, big hunting ones. I’m sure they could outrun me. In the yard, I see a pool and an awning covering fancy patio furniture. I don’t see anyone who looks like he owns the place.

“Do you know Markus? Have you met him before?”

“Of course. He shows up at the house from time to time to keep Alexander on his toes.”

“And what do you think of him?”

“I think he’s a tyrant.”

“Hmm.”

Sebastian leans back. Equipment makes a low clicking sound, and a few lights flash green and red.

I peek at the trees and remind myself not to look down. “Are all the elders the same?”

He considers this while scanning the forest. “Most. There is only one I would consider reasonable. But I haven’t seen him in hundreds of years. No one has. He keeps to himself. He tries to assimilate with humans more than the rest of us. I think he’d turn into one if there was a way.”

“What’s his name?”

“Gabriel.”

“Why have you never asked him for help? If he wants to be a human so badly, he must love them. Surely, he’d want to remove vampires who are a threat to humans?”

Sebastian looks at me like I’m foolish. “The angels are all brothers. They wouldn’t turn on each other, no matter how passionately they dislike each other.”

Slowly, I slide back as far as I can go. My hands tremble until I’m situated. Then I barely move.

“Why don’t they like each other?”

“They have kind of a ‘who has the bigger balls’ thing going on. Everyone wants to be the biggest and strongest.”

“But not you.”

He nods slowly. “But not me.”

We watch the house for close to an hour. It feels like forever, up here above the trees, but being with Sebastian makes it bearable. After he’s taken pictures and had enough, he decides it’s time to go. He heads down the ladder first, staying near the top. “I’m right here,” he says to reassure me.

Knowing he’s right behind me helps me move, but as I take a step, my foot slides off the bar, and I teeter over the edge, my arms waving wildly. Sebastian reaches for me, and I feel the pull of my shirt as I fall over the edge, but a loud rip rings out into the night, and I fall past him. He mutters a curse as I look up at him, my arms and legs in the air, trailing after my torso as I plummet toward the trees. I close my eyes, unwilling to watch the next minute play out. Part of me expects Sebastian to race down and save me, but in the seconds that race by like the snap of my fingers, I worry this is the end. The image of my parents flashes in my mind, and it comforts me, but I don’t want to die. Not now. Not yet.

The wind catches me, and I rotate in the air so I’m free falling face down. The air rises around me as I cut through it. I open my mouth to scream and fold my arms over my face to protect what I can and then…I stop. Mid-air. Nothing below me. Am I dead? Is this the end?

I remove my arms from my face, Sebastian stands below me, his head tipped back, my eyes a foot away from his.

“I’m floating,” I say calmly.

“So it seems.”

I wave through the air, spinning myself around. “I’m frigging floating.”

He laughs. “I wish I’d known you could do that because I just lost about a hundred years on my eternal life.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Then you’ve given me a handful of gray hair.”

“Your hair is as amber as ever.”

I glide my hands through the air and kick my legs. I don’t move through it like I’m swimming but stay stationary. While it’s cool and I’m eager to learn more and learn how to actually fly, I have to face the fact that I don’t know how to get down. Sebastian caught me floating in my room at his home, and he said I floated down like a feather. If only I could remember that.

“Come on down, little bird,” he says, his voice light.

I turn on my back and do a backstroke. I swear I move a few inches.

“Come on,” he says again, encouraging but amused.

I have a feeling this won’t be graceful. Dreading falling to the ground, I force myself to close my eyes and concentrate. Nothing. I shut my eyelids harder and tense all my muscles, imagining myself on the wet, cold forest floor, lying on the moss. Nothing. I flash my eyes open, annoyed, and I fall too fast into Sebastian arms. I let go of a deep breath. “Thanks.”

“Mm hmm. I had a feeling you’d need someone to catch you.”

“I’m glad it’s you.”

He chuckles. “That makes two of us, sweetheart.”