Samson stared at me a moment longer. His nostrils flared, and again I wondered what he scented when he did that. Not emotions. I was fairly certain I was the only Hundr around these parts. But he could have scented my thwarted desire.

  He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there were swirls of cinnamon and taupe inside the chocolate. Yeah, he knew I fancied him and had denied us both our desires.

  He walked to the chair he kept beside a small desk in the corner and sat down. It was not like Samson to sit while I was standing. The only other surface to sit on was the bed, and I wasn’t going there unless I was unconscious. Or dead. I realised he was still fighting. Still trying to lure me in.

  Bless him.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked a hip; waiting for him to answer my question. When it was obvious I wasn’t going to sit on the bed that smelled of him, he smiled a self-deprecating smile and then said, “Not usually, no. We do. The ghouls do. Fairies definitely do. But the shapeshifters, especially the Taniwha, are more Light than Dark. Usually. I say usually because the Taniwha became much Darker when Rick took over. Even though he’s dead, his influence has remained.”

  He looked up at me and then leaned back in his chair, making himself comfortable and in the process stretching the t-shirt he wore over his beautiful chest.

  Clever, the Dark Shadow purred.

  Sneaky, I said.

  “He had a mate,” Samson said.

  “Who did? The alpha?”

  “Rick,” he said with a nod of his head. “She survived the final confrontation. It is hard for anyone to outlive their mate but for supernaturals, it is damn near impossible.”

  “So, she’s strong?”

  “Yes. One would have to presume so. I have never met her. If she is in Wellington with the other Taniwha, Gregor would know. Or perhaps Amisi. She would be a good place for you to start.”

  Amisi was Wellington’s Nosferatin and a close friend of Lucinda’s. I’d never met her, or the Master of Wellington City. But it seemed like now would be a good time to do so. Unfortunately, Aliath would be back by tomorrow evening and getting to Wellington in daylight hours was outside of my skillset.

  Outside of Samson’s too, I thought.

  I started to pace.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked after several seconds.

  It was hardly a secret, even if Mark wanted to keep it that way. And the one person I really could trust to keep this from the Norms’ press was Samson.

  And then I realised I trusted him in this, even if I wasn’t able to trust him with my heart.

  It was an uncomfortable feeling. Because I’m perverse that way, I inhaled and confirmed the emotion. Soggy wet wool.

  I shook my head to clear it and stopped pacing.

  “Three members of parliament have been abducted in the last week, here in Auckland. One was the Minister of Police.”

  “Malcolm Carrow? That would have got your detective’s knickers in a twist.”

  I ignored that and went on. “I scented wet dog at the scene, and the witnesses have no recollection of what happened. When I glazed one tonight, she collapsed after giving me very little to go on other than the word ‘shark.’”

  “That would seem rather condemning of the Taniwha.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  Samson scratched at his jaw and looked into the distance.

  “A hunt,” he said.

  Hunt, the Dark Shadow repeated. She was pleased Samson thought along the same lines as her.

  “It’s what I’m good at,” I said with a shrug of my shoulder.

  He studied me.

  “And Álfheimr?” he asked. “Are you going to tell me why you were there?”

  “I told you. Paying back a debt.”

  “Owing a member of the Fey is dangerous, Georgia. And when danger courts, having allies is a good idea. Who is the fairy?”

  I was pretty damn sure he knew. I’m not sure how he knew. But Samson was not without his own means of investigation. Hell, the damn vampire probably had Jett’s office bugged. Which made me work hard not to blush at that thought.

  “His name is Aliath,” I said. “Herra of the Hár Lords. Prince of…”

  “Dökkálfa.”

  Did everyone know of the damn fairy before me?

  “I met him only recently,” Samson said as if hearing my grumbling. “He escorted Lucinda back from Faery.” He looked worried. “You can’t trust him.”

  “I don’t trust anyone,” I said automatically.

  “That’s not true, babe,” he offered with a smirk.

  “Least of all you, lover boy.”

  He let out a burst of laughter and then slowly sobered.

  “It is not good to owe a member of the Fey a debt, but the Herra of the Hár Lords? Georgia,” he said softly, “what did he give you in exchange?”

  I shook my head and held up a hand to stop any more questions.

  “That’s enough,” I said. “You know more than enough. I’m dealing with it.”

  “It must have been very important, perhaps even life-threatening, for you to have given your trust to one so dangerous.”

  Damn, he was good.

  “Don’t push me on this, Samson,” I snarled. “I won’t tell you a single thing more if you push me on this.”

  “Very well. Then we address your missing politicians.”

  He reached into his pocket and withdrew a cellphone and then promptly dialled a number and brought the device to his ear.

  “Gregor,” he said when it was answered. I could hear the Master of Wellington City greet him down the line. “I request permission for myself and one other to visit your fair city. Will you grant it?”

  “Of course,” the male vampire said. “Any of Lucinda’s line are welcome in my city. When do you plan to arrive?”

  “Today.” I blinked at him. How the hell did we get there today?

  “Is something amiss?”

  Samson looked at me, and I shook my head. Maybe the Master of Wellington City already knew about the missing politicians. Masters of Cities were all knowing like that and Parliament was called back early from its break according to Jett. So, you could assume that Gregor would have looked into the reason why. But I wasn’t going to hand that information over to a Master so easily.

  Mark had been right; they would likely use it to better their own situation, and I had to think of the Norms.

  “This would be better discussed in person,” Samson said.

  “I see,” Gregor replied carefully. “Then we shall have a vehicle waiting at Michel’s hangar for you, and I shall await your arrival.”

  The phone went dead. Samson arched his brow.

  “I think we stepped on his toes,” he said and dialled another number.

  It was never a good thing to piss off the Master of the City you wished to visit. My Dark Shadow agreed as she paced back and forth inside.

  Samson’s next call was to the pilots of the private jet he planned for us to use. It couldn’t have been Michel and Lucinda’s jet, because they would have taken that to London with them. But knowing what I knew about my sneaky vampire, Samson would have access to his own private flight service too.

  The third call was to a human. A female human. I all but wanted to claw out his eyes when I heard her excited tone when she answered his call.

  “My sweet,” he said in a deep voice. “Perhaps we could have that lunch date after all.”

  Her excitement was obvious even from where I stood glowering at him.

  “You know where I live?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly.

  “A private affair, then,” he said, layering the allure on thick.

  “I’ll be right over.”

  “Drive safely, Carli,” he said. “I am very much looking forward to seeing you.”

  He hung up.

  I stood still for a split second longer.

  And then the Dark Shadow struck.

  Her hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him up off the chair he’d been sitting on. He didn’t fight her. Instead, his own hands wrapped around my arm and started stroking.

  “Who is she?” the Dark Shadow asked.

  The only sign that Samson recognised that it was my vampire talking was a small widening of his eyes. His own vampire peeked out behind the chocolate, coating the irises taupe and cinnamon.

  “Mate,” it said. And it was his vampire, not him. “You do me an honour.”

  I battled her for possession of my body. I screamed at her to back down. She swatted me away using my own friggin’ Light.

  “Who is she?” she repeated, leaning in close to Samson’s face and running her nose up his cheek as she inhaled. Sweet passionfruit and indulgent chocolate mud cake.

  He was seriously turned on.

  “Will you challenge her for me?” Samson’s vampire said.

  And just like that the Dark Shadow retreated and left me holding onto a decidedly sexed-up vampire.

  I made a squeaking sound and released him. But Samson did not release me. He followed my retreat across his bedroom until the backs of my knees hit the bed and I started to fall. He landed on top of me, hard body down the length of mine. My stomach quivered. My eyes almost rolled back into my head as he positioned himself exactly where we both wanted him to be. And then his mouth was on mine.

  He kissed me in a way he had never kissed me before. It was almost angry, but I was fairly damn sure he was anything but. It was aggressive and demanding, and hard and unforgiving, and entirely impossible not to react to. I kissed him back.

  And then he stopped.

  “What the…?” I managed, opening my eyes up to see Samson staring down at me.

  And it was Samson and not his vampire.

  “You’re back,” he said.

  “What the hell?” I said, getting more out this time.

  “That was you kissing me not the Dark Shadow,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  He smiled. “My vampire liked that,” he said and leaned in to scent my skin at the side of my neck.

  “Get off me!” I snarled, pushing against his chest.

  He let me. Samson is nothing if not a gentleman. Even when his vampire takes over and kisses me into the next century.

  “What just happened?” I demanded, getting up off the bed and placing some much-needed distance between us. Samson lay back down on the bed and just smiled.

  It was a cat-got-the-cream smile.

  I glared at him.

  “Your vampire called to mine,” he said. “And they tangled.”

  “Your vampire’s a sneaky little shit,” I snapped, and Samson roared with laughter. “He did that on purpose. He set a trap for her.” And me.

  “All’s fair in love and war, babe,” Samson said, getting up from the bed just as the doorbell rang. “That will be our driver,” he added.

  “Driver? You mean the slapper you invited over for lunch.”

  Samson stopped at the threshold to his bedroom and inhaled deeply.

  “This room has never smelled so divine,” he murmured. And promptly shut the door behind us as soon as I stepped out, shutting the scents inside. No doubt for him to enjoy later. Pervert.

  He looked down at me, then lifted a hand and cupped my cheek. I jerked back. He laughed. But it was different, and I thought perhaps it was his vampire laughing and not the man.

  And then Samson said, “This is going to be so much fun.”

  I scowled at him and stomped down the stairs, taking my time. The intellectual part of me knew my Dark Shadow had overreacted. That Samson had done it on purpose to get me or her to do just that. But the female part of me was seething. Who the hell was this woman to him?

  And then he opened the front door, and the new barmaid at Sensations smiled coyly up at him.

  The growl I made was multilayered because my Dark Shadow joined in.

  Thank Nut that Samson glazed the girl before she could get the scream out. Because I was pretty sure we’d sounded terrifying. Terrifying and jealous.

  It sucked to be me.

  9

  Surprise

  My Dark Shadow was feeling contrite. I wasn’t feeling much better. We sat in the darkened rear interior of Michel’s Land Rover Discovery as the barmaid, Carli, drove us through the busy sunlit streets of Auckland to the airport. Samson hadn’t so much as said boo to her.

  He knew when not to push his luck in enclosed environments.

  His eyes sparked a lighter colour whenever they looked at me; his vampire-within checking to see if I was still angry. I had no idea what it would do if it thought my temper had cooled. It was a sneaky vampire-within, it could have been anything.

  For now, though, Samson and his resident vampire behaved themselves.

  The damage had been done anyway.

  He knew I still had feelings for him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spat the dummy quite so spectacularly. I grumbled something hopefully intelligible under my breath.

  “What’s that?” Samson asked politely.

  “Nothing,” I muttered, and he grinned. “Don’t go getting ahead of yourself, vampire,” I snapped.

  “I’m already planning the wedding,” he said dryly.

  I rolled my eyes, and he looked at me with a such a look of hunger I almost combusted. Instead, I shifted as surreptitiously as I could and asked, “So, your vampire-within? It takes over sometimes too?”

  He studied me for a second and then said, “All vampires-within can assume control of their vampire bodies. Usually when the part that is Light is compromised in some fashion.”

  He hadn’t been compromised.

  “You let it,” I said.

  “Yes,” he agreed, not in the slightest guilty about what had happened.

  “If I’m to trust you,” I said slowly, “don’t do that again.”

  He stilled. Vampire still. And then said, “My kingdom for your trust, Georgia.”

  My eyes flicked reluctantly to his.

  “But my vampire has chosen you as his mate,” he added. “And as such, he will do anything, anything at all, to have you.”

  “What is your vampire-within?” I asked in a whisper. I’d asked this before, and he’d told me I’d have to be his mate to know the answer to that. It’s usually a deeply personal thing; to expose your vampire-within’s form.

  I’m different. My vampire-within and I are too separate to be considered one. Most vampires are in tune with their vampire-within. I know Michel’s vampire-within is a dragon, but that’s only because he has an unusual relationship with his vampire-mate; Lucinda. All due to the interference of Nut.

  Nut had interfered with my turning, so it stood to reason that my situation was complicated too. Would my vampire-mate have a different relationship with me, too?

  “What will you give me for this knowledge?” he asked.

  “You won’t give it freely?”

  “It is a gift for my mate to know the identity of my vampire-within, but my vampire-within is prepared to bargain with you on this.” He looked away briefly before piercing me with a fierce gaze. “It’s better you know now anyway.”

  “Before we mate?” I confirmed.

  “Are we to mate, then, love?”

  “That’s not what I said,” I hurried to say, and he laughed.

  I watched him. How could I not? He was quite something when he smiled and when he laughed, he was truly captivating. I wondered what he had been like as a human. One hundred and fifty years ago he said he had lived. What would he have been like in the nineteenth century? A gentleman I was sure, but what else? Could he claim a girl’s heart so simply like this?

  I had so many questions where Samson was concerned because what I thought I’d known had not been the truth.

  I looked away.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” I said.

  “Gigi,” he said, and I looked at him, because not looking when he used that voice was damn near impossible. He held my stare with one that drew me further in and said, “Dog. It’s a dog.”

  I started to snigger. “Your vampire-within is a dog?” I asked incredulously. “What, a Yorkshire Terrier? English Bulldog?”

  He did not look amused. And the vampire that peeked out behind his eyes was definitely not amused either. My Dark Shadow perked up and peeked back. They stared at each other.

  Black Dog, she said after a few seconds. And if I wasn’t mistaken, she sounded a little scared.

  But nothing scared my vampire-within.

  Not true, she countered. To not be scared would be a mistake. I am not in the habit of making mistakes.

  Says the vampire-within who fell for Samson’s doggy tricks.

  She clawed me down the arm, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was too busy watching the ‘black dog’ watch her.

  That’s not just a reference to its colouring, is it? I asked. That’s a title.

  Yes, she said. Old dog. Demon dog.

  Fuck. No wonder Samson had been so full of Dark before he’d found Lucinda’s Light.

  There are stories, she said.

  I’m guessing not nice stories?

  Some. Some are more benevolent than others.

  But not all of them.

  No.

  I’d always known there was more to Samson than what you could see. And most of the time, you couldn’t see his vampire-within at all. He was too controlled for that. But his vampire-within allowed me to see it. Or maybe it allowed my Dark Shadow to.

  “What do you expect me to do with this knowledge?” I asked him. Or his black dog, I’m not entirely sure which.

  “Choose wisely,” he said.

  Not guard it. Not give him something in return. No. He wanted me to know exactly what I would be getting into if I chose to mate with him.

  I wondered then what Jett’s vampire-within would be. Could it be worse than the Black Dog?

  Yes, I thought. Yes, it could. Jett scared me. Samson did too, but for entirely different reasons. Samson scared me because he could break my heart. Again.

  “Thank you,” I said, this time it was to the Black Dog.

  “Mate,” the Black Dog said back.

  In your dreams, I thought and then tried not to smile. I was pretty sure Samson would be happy to dream about me. It was hardly a decent threat.