I sighed. I was home. But I felt different. I felt changed somehow.

  The music pulsed, and the low lights flashed, and the scents of humans and vampires surrounded.

  I’d been to hell, and I’d survived it. But the distant smell of peaches made me think of brimstone and the memory of a disembodied voice made me think of the devil. Or maybe that was the green eyes of Queen Isoleth.

  It didn’t matter. Because when a hand touched my shoulder, I yelped.

  But no one was there. Just a human dancing; drunk and high and screaming prey to my Dark Shadow.

  Damn Aliath for making me jump at shadows. Damn him to hell.

  28

  Disturbed

  The next hand to touch my shoulder was real. I spun around, reaching for a stake that wasn’t there and looked up into the azure blue eyes of Jett Vardi.

  I wasn’t sure what threw me the most; the fact that I didn’t have any stakes left now or the fact that I was face to face with Jett and he looked hungry.

  “Hey,” I said.

  His eyes swept down over my body and then slowly tracked back up again.

  “What,” he said very carefully, “are you wearing?”

  I glanced down and cringed. I was standing in the middle of the dance floor at Sensations on what had to be a Friday or Saturday night wearing a fairy bathrobe.

  Fuck-a-freaked-out-duck.

  “What, this old thing?” I said and spun on my bare feet, then curtsied.

  “It smells of fairy,” he snapped.

  “Kinda hard to wash peaches out,” I sniped back.

  He blinked down at me and then pulled back his lip, showing a hint of fang.

  “Oh, my!” I said, “What big teeth…”

  His hand gripped my arm, and he hauled me off the dance floor toward the private door at the back.

  Playtime was over, then.

  I stumbled after him as he dragged me down the side of the building that led to his quarters, relieved beyond measure when he chose his office for this showdown.

  The door slammed shut behind us, Sanguis Vitam swept out and sealed us in. It might have brushed a tendril of something soft against my cheek, but I refused to acknowledge that.

  “You have been gone for three days,” he snapped, rounding his side of the desk as if he needed the huge monstrosity to shield him from me.

  “Only three days?” I asked. It had been way longer in Álfheimr. “You know what we need?” I added. “A calendar for the time differences between here and Faery. You know, like they have for when the Full Moon is or when the tide is high. That would be perfect!”

  “What is wrong with you?” he snarled. “You smell of fairy and blood. Human blood. And your own. When I saw you last, you were being taken by Valkyries. Had I not had to fight a dozen Taniwha off, I might have been able to stop them. You slipped right through my fingers, Georgia!” He snapped his fingers as if to make a point. “I almost had you. But I had to fight a dozen possessed shapeshifters in downtown Wellington right in front of a hundred Norms. I do not like being bettered by the Fey. And I do not like having what is mine taken from me.”

  He was beyond angry. He was righteously fuming, and that fury felt hot and sharp and heady. My Dark Shadow sat up like a freaking meerkat and stilled. She’d always liked Jett’s alpha male douchebagness.

  Down tiger, I said. Samson’s our mate, not him.

  Yes, she purred. But he is nice to look at, isn’t he?

  Jeez. My inner vampire was an alpha whore.

  I shook my head and scowled at Jett.

  “I am ever so sorry, your Highness,” I simpered, throwing out a hand and bowing low, “for leaving without giving you notice. Next time I’m abducted by a race of powerful warrior fey, I’ll be sure to make them stop so I can write you a note.”

  “Sarcasm does not suit you, Georgia.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t? How strange. I thought I looked good in snark.”

  He growled low and then ran a hand through his curly hair. As usual, it was loose, giving off a one-fingered salute to the fashion police. Jett was in a class all of his own.

  “I was worried,” he said.

  My turn to still.

  “There were a lot of them, and the Valkyries have not been seen for centuries. The last time they were here, they left death and destruction in their wake. The Vikings never fully recovered.”

  Huh. I let out a breath of air and sat down on the chair before his desk.

  “I ended up in Fólkvangr,” I said; the extent of my peace offering.

  “I see. There are grumblings on the Iunctio that Odin is awake. Is this true?”

  “Yep. I kinda woke him up, but I have no idea how I did it.”

  “You really are quite something, aren’t you?”

  “Why, yes. Thanks for noticing. I’m here every Friday. Be sure to leave a good tip.”

  Jett studied me for a suspended moment and then said, “You are scared.”

  The Dark Shadow growled low and long, and I joined her.

  “What has scared you, wildcat?”

  “I am not scared.”

  “You reek of fear, Georgia. It is not like you. And to hide behind humour?” His eyes scanned Aliath’s bathrobe. “What happened to the marijuana leaf?”

  “Left it behind in Fólkvangr.” Along with my Sire.

  I refused to think of Xavier’s plight. He’d made his bed a long time ago and now he was rotting in it.

  Jett scratched at his jaw. “Why have you bled?” he asked.

  “That time of the month,” I said, but my heart was no longer in it. He waited. I sighed. It was all very civilised. “You remember the fairy I have an agreement with?”

  He nodded his head, eyes narrowed.

  “I paid back part of my debt by hunting four Light Fey spies.”

  “Go on.”

  “Isoleth was not happy.”

  “You earned the Light Queen’s wrath. No easy thing to combat.”

  “No kidding. She set four, and please note the precise number, of her hoary great big monsters on me.”

  “The blood.”

  “The blood,” I agreed.

  “And yet here you are.”

  “Here I am,” I said, smiling widely. The smile fell. “Aliath.”

  “Yes. I smell him on you.” His nose curled up in disgust. “You should shower before Samson gets here.”

  “Excuse me?” I demanded.

  “His vampire-within will not like another male’s scent on your body.” He cocked his head to the side. “It is unusual for one involved in a mate claiming to stray. I am surprised you did it. Perhaps the mating is not to your vampire-within’s liking.”

  The Dark Shadow surged to the fore and snarled, teeth bared. Red flashed across Jett’s face as she glared at him.

  “Say that again, vampyre,” she growled.

  “Easy, Dark Shadow,” Jett murmured. “I mean no disrespect.”

  “You have caused it,” she snapped. “Bare your neck.”

  Jett smiled. “Ah,” he purred. “I have missed you, my pet. Shall we play? I want so very much to play.”

  The Dark Shadow paused, and I pushed my way back to the front.

  “Cut it out, you moron,” I snapped. “You’re creeping me out.”

  Jett threw back his head and laughed. “Georgia,” he said, “I may not have won your vampire as a mate, but that does not mean I have lost completely.” He leaned forward and stared right at me, a serious look crossing his face. “I am determined to win you, kitten. A far greater prize than a mate.”

  What the hell was he on now?

  “Dream on,” I said, lamely.

  “Oh,” he replied, smiling. “I have been. And they have been delicious.”

  “See? This is what I mean by creepy, Jett. Samson’s my mate. I’ve chosen. You lost. Get over it and stop being a stalker-vampire.”

  Jett chuckled. “Kitten, this is far from over yet.”

  Whatever.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling, then caught a whiff of fairy. I lifted my arm up and sniffed the robe. Ugh! Aliath.

  “I need to get dressed,” I announced, standing.

  “Your chamber has not been touched; clothes are within.”

  “Gee, thanks, stalker-vampire. Going through my underwear drawer is not stalkerish or anything.”

  He offered me a thin-lipped smile. “It seemed wise, considering the state you find yourself in when you are here.”

  Fuck, it sucked to be me.

  “Yeah, yeah. Stalker!” I said into my fist on a cough.

  “In case you were wondering,” he said, ignoring my outburst, “the MPs have been dealt with.”

  “I know.”

  “And your name has stayed out of the press.”

  Oh. “That’s good.”

  “And Amisi, Gregor’s Nosferatin, is fine.”

  I grimaced. I hadn’t even thought of Amisi and how she’d been with me when the Taniwha and Valkyries had attacked.

  “She’s a Nosferatin. I knew she’d take care of herself.”

  “Yes,” Jett said, not sounding convinced in the slightest. “She gave me this.”

  He pulled out an intricately carved box very similar to one I had back at my apartment. Jett’s eyes coasted over my bathrobe again. “Clearly, you need it.” He pushed the box toward me.

  I stepped up to his desk and lifted the lid. Two Egyptian stakes lay within it.

  Thank you, Amisi. This time I would take the effort to write a note.

  “Great,” I said and snatched the thing up as if my life depended on it. It possibly did. “Anything else?”

  “Yes.” Damn. “Your father has been to your apartment four times since you left.”

  “Four times in three days?”

  “Yes.”

  “My father? Are you sure?”

  “There is only one Simon Deverell that concerns me in Auckland. So, yes, I am sure.”

  Shit. He would have seen my face on the news.

  “Did you, ah, did you glaze him?”

  “Should I have?”

  I shrugged.

  “He is your father, Georgia. If he does something to jeopardise our kind, then I may feel inclined to interfere. But he is your father.”

  “Since when has that stopped you, Jett?” I asked, moving toward the door at last.

  “Since I decided I want you.”

  I stopped and hung my head.

  “You can’t have me. I’m taken.”

  Not yet, the Dark Shadow said.

  Alpha whore, I snapped back.

  Coward.

  Oh, for the love of…

  I cleared my throat. Any more of this and I would be sanctioned mentally unfit.

  “Anything else?” I asked between gritted teeth.

  “Do you need some Light?”

  I stared at my hand on the door handle of Jett’s office door. I stared at it a long time.

  “I’ll be fine,” I eventually said.

  “He can’t feed you, Georgia. You know that.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I am the Master of this City and Samson is one of its vampires. I know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  I shook my head.

  “I also saw what he did in Wellington.”

  Damn it. Samson hadn’t told many people of his Dark talent. Even Lucinda, his mistress, didn’t know. I didn’t trust Jett’s motives here, but keeping Samson’s secret was more important right then than anything else.

  I turned back to the Master of Auckland City and asked, “What do you want?”

  “I’ve made myself very clear on that. But what you really want to ask is what do I want for not telling Lucinda.”

  “I kinda hate you right now,” I whispered.

  “Kitten,” he said. “We are vampyre, are we not?”

  Survive at all cost.

  “This information is worthless to you,” I countered.

  “On the contrary. This information is important to you and so therefore important to me.”

  “What do you want, Jett?”

  “I want you.”

  “I’ve chosen…”

  “Samson is your mate; nothing can interfere once a claiming starts. But he is not your kindred.”

  There was that word again. The one Amisi and Gregor had talked about. Kindred Nosferatin and kindred Nosferatu. A partnering. Beneficial to both.

  But even though I now knew it existed, I still didn’t know enough.

  “I can’t talk about this right now.”

  “So, you will run. Like a coward.”

  I bristled. The Dark Shadow did too, but she wasn’t above feeling sheepish that she’d called me one mere minutes ago.

  “I am no coward,” I said through gritted teeth. “I fought four monsters in Álfheimr. I escaped the Valkyrjur. I survived the dungeons in Fólkvangr. Don’t talk to me of cowardice.”

  “You are more powerful than you realise. More precious than you can ever imagine. I will not let you waste that power on another.”

  “On Samson?” I challenged.

  He shrugged. “It is not a falsehood to say I am more worthy.”

  “You are not my mate.”

  “In this, one does not have to be. In this, one must simply be the best. And you cannot do better than me.”

  “A bit cocky, aren’t you?”

  He stood up. And then he was beside me. So freaking fast. He reached down and took my hand, lifting it up and examining the palm.

  “All that power,” he murmured. “Right there. You hold it in your palm.” He looked up at me, eyes blazing cyan and azure. “We would be good together. I am strong. You are fearless. It is a partnership that would thrive.”

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about and FYI, you’re still creeping me out.”

  Jett smiled and stepped back. I felt colder without him touching me. I curled my fists and curled my upper lip, letting him see my fangs. No doubt, my eyes were completely red.

  “Pity,” he said and returned to his side of the desk.

  I stared at him, but he was busy shuffling papers and switching on his laptop. He was done with the creepiness. I shook my head. I needed an encyclopaedia of vampire lore. A Wikipedia page dedicated to all things kindred.

  I needed to get out of here.

  I opened the door without another word or a backward glance, and stormed off toward my “chamber”.

  Why the hell did Lucinda have to move to London right when I decided she wasn’t a bossy know-it-all and could actually answer a few questions?

  I slammed my door shut and seethed for a while, then took a shower and washed the fairy off. I was pretty sure Aliath hadn’t scent marked me on purpose, but then he had a castle full of fairy dresses he could have grabbed for when I came to, and he hadn’t.

  Every single man in my life wanted to own me.

  Well, fuck it. I was going it alone.

  The Dark Shadow snorted in disgust. I ignored her.

  Stepping out of the shower, I dressed in familiar clothes. Black jeans and t-shirt, big as fuck Mickey Mouse earrings in each ear. Take that, Jett!

  I checked my reflection in the mirror and then looked for my cellphone, only to remember it was lost somewhere between Wellington and Álfheimr. I crossed to the landline and dialled from memory. A vampire picked up on the third ring.

  “Desire de Sang nightclub,” she purred. “Where all your desires can be met and your blood pumps.”

  “Really?” I said. “That’s your greeting? Your blood pumps? It sounds like a damn hospital or something. Better yet, a blood bank. Do you offer a lollipop afterwards?”

  “Who is this?” she snapped.

  “Oh, excuse me. This is Georgia Deverell from Auckland, calling on behalf of the Master of Auckland City. Please put me through to Amisi…” I didn’t know Amisi’s surname.

  “Amisi? You do not wish to speak to my master?”

  “No. Amisi. Hop to it.”

  The line went silent, and then the distinctive tone of callcentre hold-music followed. I started to absently hum along to it, tapping my nails on the table beside the bed.

  “Nothus,” Gregor said a second later, making me damn near drop the handset. “When April said she had a rude vampire on the line from Auckland, I just knew it had to be you.”

  “So nice to be recognised for my talents.”

  “Aren’t you though,” he said dryly.

  I scowled at the phone.

  “I was actually after Amisi, Gregor. Your vampire - and who the hell calls themselves April when they become a creature of the night? - got it wrong.”

  “No, she didn’t get it wrong. No one gets through to Amisi unless I allow it. I am very protective of my Nosferatin.”

  “Well, I’m a Nosferatin too, so you don’t have to worry.”

  “You are a Nothus. I will continue to worry until the day you meet the final death.”

  I shook my head.

  “Amisi, Gregor. It’s private.”

  “Why should I accommodate you?”

  “Because I asked nicely?”

  “I have yet to hear you use any manners when you speak.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Gregor.”

  “Tell me what it is you wish to ask her.”

  Power rolled down the line and slammed into my chest.

  Fuck me, but the Enforcer had some Sanguis Vitam clout. I had yet to meet a vampire who could do what I did and “persuade” someone over a telephone line.

  I tried to throw my power back down the line at him, but with what I’d recently recovered from, I wasn’t up to my normal standard.

  My body sagged when I realised I couldn’t win this fight.

  The Dark Shadow growled.

  Right there with you, sister.

  “It’s about this kindred thing,” I said, my jaw aching with the effort required to keep my fucking mouth shut.

  It wasn’t working. I kept on spilling.

  “I want to know more. I don’t know enough and I think I’m about to join with a vampire against my will and I’d like to have an idea of what I’m getting into.”

  “Who wishes to force your hand?” Gregor demanded.

  My lips clamped shut, and it had nothing to do with me.