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  “For Patrick!” She pointed her blade at my face and charged.

  In my retreat, I cracked my shoulder against the bathroom doorframe, and then my opposite hand nearly missed the doorknob as I struggled to open it without taking my eyes from the crazed intruder. My clumsiness cost me dearly.

  When the door finally sprang open, I was pushed backward into the bathroom. I fell, landing on my ass. The weight of a boot shoved into my chest, expelling the air from my lungs, and then my head bounced off the tile, causing the nightlight on the wall to multiply across my vision. For a second, I forgot how to make words.

  The woman’s knife pierced my shoulder and pinned me to the floor. She gripped the handle of the blade with both hands and dragged it inward toward my heart, tearing an inhuman scream from my throat. I tasted bile on my tongue as I sucked in a rasping breath.

  My legs thrashed about, kicking open drawers on the vanity. I felt like a squirming insect, seconds away from having my insides splattered across the floor, grasping at anything within reach. My fingers clawed at the shower curtain until it broke loose, bringing the rod down with it, while my opposite hand found the dangling cord of the curling iron. I whipped it off the counter, smacking the hard, plastic handle into the side of the woman’s head.

  She growled and freed one hand from the knife in order to wrench the curling iron away from me, chucking it over her shoulder. Before her hand made it back to the hilt of her blade, the cord of the curling iron looped around her neck. It dug into her skin, drawing a surprised gasp as she released her hold on the knife.

  My red tunnel vision expanded, and Mandy appeared in the threshold of the bathroom in her angry unicorn pajamas. One hand gripped the barrel of the curling iron, and the other tangled in the cord. She shoved her knee into the woman’s back and held tight, strangling her for all she was worth.

  The tag-team effort allowed just enough time for me to reach a shaky hand up and jerk the blade free of my shoulder. It hurt even worse coming out. Blood spurted across the tile and oozed down into my armpit.

  I pulled myself up to a sitting position and glared at the asphyxiating woman standing before me. She hissed as she tried to pry her fingers under the cord around her neck. Then the underside of her boot connected with my jaw, and my face smashed into the vanity, slamming shut one of the drawers I’d kicked open.

  “Die, motherfucker!” Mandy screamed, losing her grip on the curling iron. And she’d been doing so well cleaning up her gutter mouth. A little violence, and we were right back to square one.

  The woman twisted in her grip. Her knee came up, and in a flash, a second blade slipped out of her boot and into Mandy’s stomach. The girl’s cry echoed my own.

  I shot to my feet, panic and terror serving up a second wind that shook loose every ounce of energy left in my body. I couldn’t fail Mandy. She was my responsibility, and I would not lose her. Not to this bitch or any other.

  I snatched a handful of the woman’s hair and yanked. She reeled back as if to deliver a punch, but I caught her arm and dug my fingers into the meat of her biceps. Between my rage and pain and hunger, instinct took over.

  My fangs flicked out, and I bit down on the curve of her neck, right where the collar of her spandex suit began. Blood soaked the slick material, and I burrowed my face in deeper, my teeth tearing through the fabric and her flesh until the flow thickened.

  The woman twitched and squealed in my arms, sending a blissful thrill of excitement through me. I hadn’t fed this enthusiastically since the carjacking incident. The adrenaline and fear were intoxicating—almost better than the arousal when I fed from Vin.

  My skin tingled, and something in my core tightened as the woman’s blood filled me. The hole in my shoulder itched. It felt like hundreds of squirming maggots were filling the wound, until it sealed up tight, and the disturbing sensation ended, taking my pain along with it.

  I expected my thirst to diminish, but it kept building as if leading up to some grand climax. I wanted to suck her dry. Some part of me knew it would be pure ecstasy. I could feel it.

  That feeling died when I caught sight of Mandy looking up at me from the bathroom floor, pain and horror twisting up her features.

  The woman had lost consciousness at some point, and when I retracted my fangs from her, she crumpled to the tile floor. She wasn’t dead yet. I’d felt a sluggish pulse before guilt begged me to stop feeding, but I didn’t know how long she would last without medical attention. At this moment, I didn’t care. Mandy was my only concern.

  The girl’s pajama shirt was soaked with blood. It was darkest where the knife had struck her, spreading out from there. She’d already removed the blade, but she was in no hurry to get up. I knelt down beside her.

  “Let me see,” I demanded when she recoiled. I couldn’t tell if the wound or my violent feeding was more to blame for her dilated eyes and shallow breath.

  “I need…I need to shift,” she rasped. “I’ll heal faster that way.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” I asked, stroking her arm as I eyed the gash in her abdomen.

  She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Just give me some space.”

  “Freeze!” Laura sprang around the corner, clutching my Glock with both hands. She wore one of her lacy nighties, and her newly red hair was pinned up in foam curlers. Her breath sounded as if she’d run around the house a dozen times before finding her way here. Wide, blue eyes darted from me to the unconscious murderess to Mandy. “Oh my God! I’ll call an ambulance!”

  “No!” Mandy and I both shouted.

  “Right! Right. Shit.” Laura bounced on the balls of her feet, then her eyes fell on the woman again. “Is that the serial killer? In our freaking house?”

  I grimaced. “One of them.”

  “Oh, that’s just perfect.” Laura huffed out a trembling breath. “Who are we supposed to call? Is there a number for this?”

  “I need to shift, like now,” Mandy said. Her teeth chattered, and her lips had taken on a blue tint.

  I stood and edged around her to get out of the bathroom, encouraging Laura back as I went. I held my hand out for the gun, and she turned it over with an anxious frown.

  “I can’t believe I was ready to shoot someone. Oh my God. I’m shaking.” She fluttered her pink-tipped fingernails and shivered.

  “House of the brave, right here,” I said, shooting a nervous glance over my shoulder to where Mandy had begun her transformation. Laura noticed, too. She paled and inched toward my bedroom door.

  “I’ll just go make us some coffee,” she said, then added, “You’d better call blondie to come clean this up.”

  My stomach roiled at the thought of reaching out to Roman again so soon, but there was really no other choice. It wasn’t like I had a number for anyone else in Blood Vice—in the vampire community, period. I needed to fix that. Soon. For all I knew, Roman wouldn’t even answer my call.

  I crossed my room and pushed back the bedroom curtains to investigate how the killer had gained access. A perfect circle of glass had been cut from one window pane. It was just wide enough for someone to slip their hand through to unlock the latch. I stared out the window, glancing up and down the street to see if there were any unfamiliar vehicles parked nearby. Then I quit stalling and dialed Roman’s number.

  He answered on the first ring.

  “Are you okay?” His voice rushed out in a panicked breath. I could hear the roar of an engine humming in the background.

  “I am now,” I said, relief flooding through me so suddenly that it brought tears to my eyes. “Mandy will be after she shifts. But the woman who broke into my house to kill me might not last long with the degree of blood loss she’s suffered. If you want to question her, you better get here fast.”

  “I’m almost there,” Roman said.

  My heart ached, painting a warped fantasy of him rushing back to apologize for words he didn’t mean. To take me in his arms and press his lips to mine. I held my breath, wai
ting for the truth before I humiliated myself more than I already had.

  “You fed me…a lot of blood.” Roman struggled to get the words out. “There are certain side effects. I’m compelled to come to your aid until Vanessa sets things straight.”

  “Oh.” I swallowed, dying a little as my delusion dissipated. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t—” Roman sighed. “I’m going to call Vanessa in since she’s taking point on this case. We’ll be there shortly.”

  He ended the call without saying goodbye.

  * * * * *

  With everything that had happened tonight, I hadn’t considered Vanessa. The idea of facing her after I’d practically poached her potential scion sent my recently replenished pulse into overdrive. Getting into a catfight with a femme fatal vampire over a simple misunderstanding wasn’t how I wanted to end my night.

  Seeing how the culprit was unconscious in my bathroom, I didn’t think it was necessary to leave the crime scene untouched for evidence. So while Laura fixed coffee and Mandy licked the blood from her fur, I sealed up the window with a piece of cardboard and some packing tape.

  Then I stripped out of Sara’s destroyed loaner clothes and into a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top. I took a damp wash cloth to my face and neck, scrubbing where blood had dried to my skin. Most of it wiped away without too much effort, but my hair would have to wait until I had a chance to take a shower.

  Emotionally, I felt drained and ragged. But it didn’t show. I’d fed—long and hard—and my skin glowed with a dewy etherealness that made me less self-conscious about the dried gore in my hair. It also took the edge off my raw nerves as I awaited Roman and Vanessa’s arrival.

  An unmarked Charger pulled up to the curb first. Vanessa exited the driver’s side. She wore her usual black tactical gear, and I wondered if she’d been working another assignment tonight. Maybe that was why she hadn’t been able to attend the party. To my surprise, Kai Natani opened the passenger’s door. He was still in his flashy blue suit.

  A second later, Roman’s SUV parked behind them. It was as if he had intentionally waited for Vanessa to arrive first. I didn’t blame him. Explaining what had happened was going to make her question his loyalties enough as it was. From Nigel’s borrowed clothes, I was guessing he hadn’t made it home before turning around. Vanessa frowned at him, but she didn’t comment.

  “Two in one night,” Kai said as he stepped up onto my front porch. He had to duck to clear the roof overhang. “You’re my kinda girl.” He gave me an obnoxious grin that I couldn’t bring myself to return.

  “She’s in here,” I said, turning to lead him through the front door without greeting Vanessa or Roman. I didn’t know what to say to either of them.

  Mandy had shifted back to her human form and put on a fresh pair of pajamas. She and Laura sat at the kitchen table, sipping sugared up mugs of coffee and talking in hushed voices. The extra blood in my system boosted my senses, and I overheard bits and pieces of what they were saying.

  I pushed their conversation to the back of my mind, determined to stay focused. I would handle my damaged home life later. After the big, bad vamps hauled off the serial killer dozing in my bathroom.

  Kai lifted an eyebrow as he took in the feathers littering my bedroom floor. Then he sniffed the air. The bitter odor of stale blood was strong—probably potent enough that an average human could detect it.

  Kai followed his nose toward the bathroom. I stepped back and folded my arms, letting him go ahead of me. Vanessa and Roman were right behind him, taking in the damage to my home with dispassionate eyes.

  “She came through the window,” I said, pointing across the room. “My partner, Mandy Starsgard, helped incapacitate her. I’d probably be dead if she hadn’t intervened.”

  Roman’s eyes locked on mine. His jaw flexed, and he swallowed.

  “Do you recognize her?” Vanessa asked, giving her back to Roman as she stepped into the bathroom and knelt down.

  “Yeah.” I nodded and rubbed a hand up the back of one arm. “She was at Bleeders Monday night. She’s the one who was last seen with the victim in the dumpster.”

  Kai pressed his fingers to the side of the woman’s throat—the side I hadn’t mauled. “I think she’ll live.” He peeled her collar back and took a closer look at a tiny, faint, circular scar. My breath caught, and a burning sensation pinched along my neck.

  Kai lifted an eyebrow. “Looks like she might have a potential sire who has some explaining to do.”

  “Let me see that.” Vanessa pulled a small flashlight from her pocket and centered it over the scar. She pressed a button, and the light changed to green and then blue. A flash sounded, and I added the fancy gadget to my Christmas wish list.

  Vanessa stood and gave Roman a worried look that slowly transferred to his own expression, while Kai heaved the woman up over his shoulder, letting her arms and head dangle down his backside. I cringed, thinking of the stains he’d find on his fancy suit later, but he didn’t seem bothered. He turned to glance in the blood-spattered mirror above my sink and ran a hand over his bald head as if fixing an invisible mop of hair.

  “All set?” he asked.

  Vanessa’s phone rang before she had a chance to reply, and a crease formed across her brow as she answered the call. “Your Grace?”

  Roman glanced at me again, but I couldn’t read his expression. If he wasn’t bouncing between irrational jealousy and guilt-ridden atonement, his mood toward me often seemed to settle on annoyed indifference. After the events of the night, I wasn’t sure where that left us.

  “We’ve just collected a second suspect, one that’s still breathing,” Vanessa said into her phone. I didn’t have to guess to know she was referring to the lead sandwich I’d fed the bartender. “The same vampire who eliminated the first suspect. She’s a civilian contact of Roman Knight’s, sir.” Vanessa shot me a look as unreadable as Roman’s. “Her name is Jenna Skye. Of course, sir. Straightaway.”

  “What’s the word?” Kai asked, readjusting the woman on his shoulder.

  Vanessa licked the corner of her mouth and blinked stiffly. “He wants to see us in his office. Now.”

  “Then let’s go,” Kai said.

  “All of us.” Vanessa’s eyes landed on me again. If I hadn’t been so terrified of her, I’d say she was feeling sorry for me. “That includes you,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” Roman’s eyes dilated, panic reducing his blue irises to thin, ghostly rings.

  Vanessa ignored his question and led us out of my bedroom and down the hallway. Kai and Roman followed with me trailing behind. The light in the kitchen was still on, but Laura and Mandy had disappeared, probably to take Duncan out back.

  “She’ll ride with you,” Vanessa said to Roman. “You can fill her in on the proper etiquette for addressing the duke.”

  “Can’t you do that?” Roman balked as she reached the front door and held it open for Kai to carry the woman through.

  Vanessa’s piercing, green eyes took Roman in with wrathful skepticism. My heart dropped when her attention snapped to me. Could she tell what I’d done just by looking at us? I bit my tongue, refraining from hurling a premature apology at her, and suffered through the discomfort until she turned back to Roman.

  “This is your mess. I told you that from day one. Fix it, or I will.” She turned and followed Kai outside. The door slammed behind her, and Roman loosed a shuddering breath. He ran a hand over his face, pausing to press his thumb and forefinger into his closed eyelids.

  “This is not good,” he groaned. Wasn’t it?

  This was what I’d been asking for. An audience with this duke was what I needed if I wanted to join Blood Vice. But the way Vanessa, an experienced, tough-as-coffin-nails vampire, reacted to this man sent up red flags galore. My excitement was also stunted by the unintentional suffering I’d caused Roman, especially after he’d stuck his neck out so far to help me—finding a sire I could claim and introducing me to the elite
of the vampire community.

  “We need to get going,” Roman said. “The duke doesn’t appreciate waiting.”

  “Should I change?” I asked, glancing down at my tank top and jeans, and then at his sweats. “Should you change?”

  “No time.” Roman pushed open the front door and waited for me to exit ahead of him. “I still have to cover the basics with you before we get there, and it’s a short drive.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe this isn’t such a great idea.” I glanced behind me, searching for my sister and Mandy. “I mean, I haven’t even filled out the registration paperwork for that Spanish sire you found.”

  Roman’s face flushed, and he ground his teeth. “Keep your voice down,” he hissed. “Your pet mutt will hear, and I already told you I won’t admit to any involvement.”

  “Fine, but the point still stands. What if I’m asked about my sire?”

  He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now. The duke has demanded your presence. The decision is out of your hands. Mine, too.”

  “Demanded my presence?” I folded my arms. The finality of his statement grated on me, and I considered refusing. But Roman’s face hardened when I didn’t move.

  “I don’t want to do this the hard way,” he said. “But I’m not losing my job over you. Not tonight. Let’s go.”

  Guilt slithered around my heart and squeezed.

  “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” I released my arms down to my sides and sighed. “And I really am sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.”

  Roman frowned, and I could tell he was wallowing in his own guilt. “Water under the bridge.” Then he pushed the door open farther and narrowed his eyes at me. “I won’t ask again.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The duke’s manor was situated in a more secluded nook in Ladue. Several acres of well-groomed woods surrounded the stone and glass fortress. It was easily three times as large as Nigel’s place down the road.

  I wanted to ask Roman what was up with all these fancy vampires and their obsession with enormous windows. Was it a way of flaunting their fearlessness? Or was it an added element to disguise their true nature? I bit my tongue, deciding to save the question for someone who wasn’t actively loathing me.