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  “Stop this now,” she insisted.

  He ignored his girlfriend’s request, his eyes still fixed on Hartley’s. “Open the damn door.”

  She looked to her Queen for instruction. She sighed and waved a hand, giving her the go-ahead, so she stepped aside. Will hurried past them, opening the door and bolting down the steps. Wyatt turned to address Allydia. “We need to talk.” She gestured toward the steps leading upstairs, her annoyance clear in her expression. Before heading toward them, he stared daggers at Hartley as her hands trembled so hard, she nearly dropped her phone. “If anything happens to my son, I’ll hold you responsible.”

  She slid back to her spot in front of the door, guarding it against further intruders as she watched the two go up to the second floor. She put her hand to her chest, glancing over to see the fallen vampire stand and take a glass of wine from a nearby table. “Well,” she said under her breath. “That was dramatic.”

  Chapter 8

  “Michelle?” Will called, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the dungeon.

  “Hello?” a weak voice called back. He dashed to it, finding the cell at the back of the room.

  “Oh, God, Michelle,” he breathed, stopping in front of the door. She was huddled in the corner, surrounded by empty blood bags, her hair disheveled, her dress torn, and her skin ashen.

  She peered up at him, not believing her eyes. “Will?”

  He gripped the bars and yanked the door off its hinges, flinging it aside and rushing in to kneel in front of her. He took her face in his hands, looking her over as she stared in wonder. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine. How are you here? Did I die again?”

  Tears pooled in his eyes as he pushed the hair away from her face. “No. No, Lucifer brought me back. I don’t know how or why, but…are you sure you’re all right?”

  She reached up and touched her fingertips to his chin. “You’re real?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I’m real.”

  Her heart skipped in her chest as relief washed over. She kissed him hard, pulling herself up into his arms, almost knocking him over as she squeezed him. They embraced for several moments before Will stopped, tears of guilt tumbling down his cheeks.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “I know. I know you didn’t.” She ran her hand through his hair and down to his shoulder. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you. God, Will, I love you so much.” She held him again, a swarm of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

  “I love you, too,” he said, holding on to her like the last life preserver on the Titanic. “I feel like you’re cutting me a lot of slack and I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve it.”

  She laughed, kissing him again, softly at first, and then deeply, her body tingling as she pressed it against his. She pushed him down from his knees to a sitting position on the cool stone floor, positioning herself in his lap. She struggled to get his pants undone as she felt him stiffen beneath her, his hands running up her legs and under her dress. Just as she got the zipper unstuck, her fangs began to protrude, cutting his lip like a knife, the taste of his blood overwhelming her with lust and hunger. She leaped up, pushing him out of the way as she darted to the fridge across from the cell, threw the door open, and pulled out one blood bag after another, sucking down the contents, and dropping them to the floor.

  He watched her, eyes wide as he gagged. “Oh, that’s gross.”

  “You undermine me in front of my people,” Allydia scolded as she and Wyatt entered her throne room, slamming the door behind them. “You attack them where they’re meant to feel safe. You disrespect me.”

  “You have a girl locked in a cage in an underground bunker. You don’t get to be the one that’s offended,” he condescended, pacing around the room, hands on his hips, disgust in his eyes. “How could you do this?”

  “I had to. There are laws.”

  “That you created! Look around.” He gestured to the lavish throne at the other end of the room. “No one tells you what to do.”

  “I do what I must to keep my people safe.”

  “Safe? From what? What could they possibly be afraid of?”

  “Each other!” she shouted. “You think me cruel and brutal, but I do what I do for a reason. They are not human, Wyatt. They are predators with appetites and emotions you can not understand. Without a firm hand to lead them--”

  “Stop.” He crossed his arms, rubbing one of them as if for comfort. He bit his lip as he looked at her, the anger and despair mingling in his features catching her off guard. “I’ve stayed out of your business. I ignored your past against my better judgement. But this? And what about Hattie? What did you do to her?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment as she folded her arms and sighed, clearing her throat in defiance as she returned his gaze.

  He let out a deep, sorrowful breath. “Right. Okay, I need to end this.”

  “This?”

  “Us. It’s too crazy. I can’t have you anywhere near my son.”

  Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke. “You would leave me so coldly?”

  “I don’t want to. Even after this, I don’t want to be without you, but you’ve given me no choice.”

  “There is always a choice. You choose me or you choose to abandon me. Again.”

  “I have to! I wish it could be different, believe me. You have no idea how much this is killing me. I love you, but I don’t know what else to do.”

  She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she struggled to maintain her composure. “That’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me.”

  His features softened as he allowed his pain to show. He stepped forward, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her, a tear falling from his eye to her cheek. He slid his hands down to the sides of her neck as he rested his forehead on hers, breathing in the sweet scent of gardenia that hung in the air around her. “I’m sorry.” He left the room, the Queen crumbling to the floor. She held her stomach as her mouth fell open in a silent scream.

  “Your Majesty,” Hartley yelped, hurrying in and dropping down next to her. She cradled her in her arms as she wailed, holding her head to her chest. She knew it wasn’t her place to ask questions, so she didn’t. Instead, she provided what comfort she could, being there for her Queen, as was her duty.

  Chapter 9

  Wyatt collapsed onto the couch, too broken to bother taking off his shoes. With Will and Michelle now safely at Gabriel’s, he could finally deal with the emotions that had left him reeling, the events of the day swirling in his mind like a hurricane. He sat back, running a hand through his hair and breathing out slowly, tears welling in his eyes. “I did the right thing,” he tried to convince himself. But, the quiet of the apartment weighed on him, his newfound loneliness crushing his chest like a discarded soda can. He wiped his face and turned his head sharply, thinking he’d seen something from the corner of his eye. He got up to investigate, checking all the rooms, but there was nothing. He went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water from the fridge, but as he turned the cap to open it, he was stopped in his tracks by a strange, familiar scent. He searched the place again, unable to locate a source, but he was sure of what he was smelling…lavender. “I’m losing it.” He put the bottle down, took his phone from his pocket, found the number for his old therapist back in New Jersey, and hit ‘call’.

  “Yes,” a sleepy voice answered. Wyatt looked at the clock on the oven and immediately felt guilty for not waiting until morning to make the call.

  “Hi, Dr. Stratford. I’m sorry to be calling so late or…early. This is Wyatt Sinclair. I know it’s been a while since my last session, but I was wondering if I could make an appointment for as soon as possible?”

  “Mr. Sinclair? Yes, of course. Call Marjorie when the office opens at nine. I’ll have her squeeze you into the first available. Is this an emergency? Are you having suicidal thoughts?”

  “No. N
o, I just, um,” He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure why he was calling. He couldn’t exactly tell him the truth, that he just broke up with his vampire girlfriend because he was worried she’d kill his grown son who wasn’t yet born three years ago when they’d last spoken, who died and was resurrected by Lucifer and that he was pretty sure he was now being haunted by his dead ex-wife. “It’s been a weird day.”

  “Are you thinking of harming yourself or someone else?”

  “No.”

  “Do you feel safe where you are?”

  “Basically. Listen, I’m fine, I’m just upset and I’d like to talk.”

  “All right, Mr. Sinclair. Call the office in the morning and I’ll see you soon.”

  He ended the call and put the phone on the counter, leaning against it and letting out a sigh of relief. He felt better just hearing the older man’s voice, a sign to him that a visit to the psychiatrist was long overdue.

  Gabriel finished hanging the blackout curtains in Wyatt’s old bedroom while Michelle transferred blood bags from a medical cooler to a dorm fridge next to the nightstand. In the kitchen, Will organized the two hundred protein bars Gabriel had bought him by flavor in the pantry. She’d told him to wear cargo pants and always keep a few on him, just in case.

  “William,” Lucifer greeted as he entered the apartment. “Nice to see you. Gabriel tells me you’ll be staying with us for a while lest you put your father in some sort of danger. What is my brother up to this evening? No doubt something scandalous with the vampire Queen.”

  Will shook his head. “He dumped her.”

  “You’re kidding. I thought he’d moved past suicide attempts. Some things never change, I suppose.”

  “You said something like that earlier. What happened when I was gone?”

  “Not my place to say.”

  “Like you care about decorum.”

  “Not generally, but contrary to what you may think of me, I do care about my brother and I’m quite certain he wouldn’t want me burdening you with the events that took place in the days following your death.”

  Will formed a ball of electricity in his palm. “I can make you tell me.”

  Lucifer laughed. “I assure you, you can not.”

  “Fine,” the lightning disappeared as he put his hands on the island, looking across to his uncle who sat on a stool, taking a peach from the bowl of fruit he’d insisted Gabriel buy. “Why’d you bring me back?”

  “I have my reasons,” Lucifer said, swallowing a mouthful of fruit.

  “And those are?”

  “Not your concern. I will say, though, that the look on your father’s face when he realized you were back was worth all the effort.” He stood and headed toward the hall. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s late and I’m positively drained. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, and William,” He turned back, tossing the half-eaten peach into the trash. “Do keep in mind that should you again lose your way and bring any harm to my brother, I will tear out your heart and feed it to you before drowning you in the kitchen sink. Goodnight.” He vanished into the room next to the one that would be Will’s as Gabriel stepped into the hallway, rolling her eyes.

  “Don’t worry about him,” she said, walking to the kitchen and taking a bag of chips from the pantry. She opened it and took one before tilting the bag toward her nephew. He grabbed a handful and sat.

  “Why not? Would he not actually do it? Because that was really specific.”

  “Oh, he’d definitely do it. I just meant you shouldn’t dwell on it. The chances of me letting you get that out of control again are pretty slim.”

  He almost choked as he swallowed his chips and reached for more. “You’re threatening me, too? Not that I don’t understand, but, damn.”

  “You know what you did, Will. I don’t have to explain to you why we have concerns. But, I’m hoping that between me and Lucifer keeping an eye on you and your dad helping you with that meditation shit, this time will be different. And, if you start feeling rowdy, tell me this time, maybe, before you do something you can’t take back. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he agreed.

  “All right. I’m going to bed.” She got up, leaving him the bag of chips and walking toward her bedroom.

  “Hey, do you think Allydia would hurt dad? Lucifer thinks--”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she called back. “Your dad can take care of himself and if she tried anything, I’d fucking kill her.”

  “They asleep?” Michelle asked as Will came in, closing the door and setting a bottle of water on the nightstand.

  “Yeah. A lot of death threats in this family. No wonder Dad took me to live somewhere else.”

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She sat up on her knees on the bed, her tee-shirt, the only clothes she wore since her shower, just covering her backside.

  “After what I did, I get it. They’re right. I can’t expect them to just be okay with me being here.” His lip started to quiver as he spoke. “I don’t know how you can still look at me without being scared or mad or something. How are you still looking at me like you love me?”

  She held his face in her hands and looked deeply into his eyes, trying not to get lost in them. “I do love you. It broke me when Gabriel told me you were gone. It broke me. I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose, even in that state. I know you, Will. You don’t scare me. You have me.” She kissed him sweetly. “You have me.” She kissed him again, pulling him down on top of her as she lay back onto the blanket.

  His thoughts faded as he glided his hands up her thighs, pushing up her shirt, and squeezing her hips. She slipped out of her shirt entirely, then pulled his off, as well. He kicked off his pants and boxer briefs and ran his hand up her body, his lips moving from hers to her neck. She placed her hand on the small of his back as he sank into her, his lips brushing her neck as he breathed her in, the perfume of her like birthday cake and magic. The familiar, warm ache replaced all other feelings as he buried his face in her hair, letting her wash away his guilt and regret as she moved beneath him.

  She clung to him like hope as the sound of his heavy breathing in her ear sent shivers through her body. Her gums throbbed as her fangs descended. She turned her head, trying and failing to escape the sweet smell of his skin and the blood just beneath it. She raised her fist to her mouth and bit down on it, sucking the blood from her own hand as a wave of euphoria flooded through her. Relief washed over her as she realized she could keep herself from harming him. She would never forgive herself if she bit him. He was back. Her only love was back and he was everything.

  Chapter 10

  Malik lay breathless in the dark, unable to sleep, his heart thumping in his chest. He couldn’t get the image of his daughter’s eyes flashing black and the threatening tone of her voice when she’d said she was hungry out of his head. He wanted to talk to his wife about his anxiety but was afraid she’d get angry. Sinclair was family and he knew how important that was to her. He knew that she loved him, but when it came down to it, her child would always be more important. Sinclair was her blood. He was an option. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. He had to say something. He just had to be careful about how he went about it.

  “Val,” he whispered. “Valerie.”

  “Mmm.”

  “Val, wake up. I need to talk to you.”

  She opened one eye and glared at the clock. “Boy, it is five in the morning. I am not in the mood.”

  “No, Val. I really need to talk to you. Before Sinclair gets up.”

  She smacked her lips. “What is it?”

  “I think something’s off.”

  “What do you mean, ‘off’?”

  “When she came in here asking for eggs, her eyes turned black. Not like there was a shadow or something. Her pupils got giant.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay? That’s all you got to say?”

  “Well, she’s part vampire. It’s bound to happen.”

  “What the
-- how are you so calm about this?”

  “Why are you in a tizzy right now? I told you what she was.”

  “Yeah, but--”

  “She’s a tiny child. What do you think is gonna happen?”

  He gave her a knowing look.

  “Boy, you’re crazy. She is all right. Besides, you think Gabriel would leave her here if she thought she was dangerous?”

  “Daddy?” a soft voice came from the doorway.

  He cleared his throat and sat up. “Yeah, baby. Did you have a bad dream?”

  “No.” She came in and sat next to him on the edge of the bed, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “I just wanted to tell you you don’t have to be afraid.”

  He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Afraid of what?”

  “Me. I would never hurt you, Daddy. I promise.”

  “He knows that baby,” Valerie told her. “Go back to bed. Sun’s not even up yet.”

  “Okay, Mommy.” She hopped down and pattered back to her room.

  “See?” Valerie smiled. “She’s fine. Now, go to sleep. I’m tired.”

  He lay back, clutching the comforter to his chest, his heart beating faster now than it had before he’d woken his wife.

  Malik never slept. Instead, he got out of bed at six, made a big breakfast and woke Valerie and Sinclair up with an idea he thought might help make things at least seem more normal.

  “What do you say, after breakfast, we all go to the park?”

  “YAY!” Sinclair exclaimed, jumping up from her seat and throwing her arms around his neck.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Valerie agreed.