“Come on, Kitten. Down to the kitchen and I’l fil you in on al that’s happened since you went to bed. I’ve had a busy night.”

She padded over to Shade and slid into his arms. He encircled her waist gently—she was stil having some pain from the broken ribs Stacia Bonecrusher had given her a month ago—and his lips touched hers. A spark flared between them, and I watched as they kissed, deep and long, soulful, bound together by an invisible connection. Delilah had never had that with anybody—and I was grateful that now she did.

After a moment, I cleared my throat. “I’l send her back up in a few minutes. You just park yourself, dude.”

Shade laughed again and winked at me. “Mistress Menol y, you are a harsh and cruel woman to take my Delilah from me, but I wil be good and wait.”

As he slid back into bed, Delilah and I headed down the stairs.

“You’ve got a good man there. He reeks of loyalty.” I said it playful y but meant every word. He was entranced by my sister, and though he was always polite to both Camil e and me, it was obvious he had placed his heart in our sister’s hands.

“He’s . . . easy. Easy to be with. Easy to talk to. Easy to lean on when I’m feeling nervous. We laugh together, a lot. I feel safe around him—I don’t have to think about it. We can just be. I’ve never known anything like this. I think . . .”

She paused, then shrugged. “I think this is truly what love is. With Chase, it was like being a teenager. I needed to test out what love meant to me, to try on the feeling for practice. But something was missing. Something I don’t think I ever would have found with him. I love Chase, but I don’t think I was ever in love with him.”

“How’s Zachary taking it?” We didn’t bring up the werepuma much. Both Delilah and Chase stil felt guilty over Zach’s injuries, from when he’d saved Chase’s life and taken a nasty blow that had left him paralyzed. At first they thought it would be temporary, but now he’d been moved to a rehab center and the doctors were thinking he would be in a wheelchair forever.

“He stil won’t talk to me. Nerissa told me he’s taken to spending more and more time in puma form. Something changes when he shifts over and he’s free from the pain and able to move again.

The healers don’t know what the difference is, but in puma form—he’s free.”

I heard something in her voice. “You think he’s going to permanently choose to . . . ?”

A tear trickled down her face and she nodded. “I think, yes, one day Zach wil change into puma form and run off and we’l never see him again. I think he’l go into the mountains, live as a lone male. And how can I say he’s wrong? In puma form, he can run and hunt and move . . . but in human form, he’s seen as a weak member of his Pride. The Rainier Puma Pride is harsh, in many ways, and he’s been relegated to a position of lesser status since the accident.”

“Why? Just because of his injuries?”

She shook her head, the tips of her fangs poking out. Delilah’s fangs were nonretractable. “No,”

she said, anger washing across her face. “If he’d been protecting the Pride, he’d be considered a hero. No, it’s because he was protecting Chase and me. Me, especial y. You know how the Rainier Puma Pride feels about us, even though we helped them defeat Kyoka and the werespiders.”

“I know. I don’t talk about it much, but Nerissa gets flak from her Pride-mates because of her relationship with me. I’ve had it up to here with the Puma Pride and to be honest, I hope that she leaves them.”

Delilah gave me a thoughtful nod. “They aren’t as set in their ways as some werewolf packs, but they can be terribly cruel in their assessment of outsiders.”

Placing a hand on her shoulder as we entered the kitchen, I whispered, “What wil be, wil be.

Let thoughts of Zach go for now, Kitten. There’s nothing you can do.”

Camil e and Iris were waiting at the table with tea in hand and cookies on a plate. As I sat down, I suddenly realized that this was our pattern. The three of us, with Iris, strategizing in the middle of the night. It had become so routine it was almost comforting. With a soft smile, I sat back and began to lay out everything that had happened since they went to bed.

CHAPTER 7

“Good gods, how can you get in so much trouble in one night?” Camil e stared at me, her mouth open. “We leave you alone to get some sleep and you end up involved with Blood Wyne’s son?”

“Son implies youth, and Roman, while he doesn’t look a day over thirty-five, isn’t youthful by any stretch of the imagination.” I glanced around. The kitchen was almost back together after the demons invaded our home, but there were stil deep gouges in a few of the wal s and the tile needed to be replaced. The guys had pul ed together, and in one month they had cleared out al the debris and repaired a good deal of the damage. New appliances gleamed in the dim light.

“What do you need us to do?” Delilah asked.

“Can you run down as much information on the Greenbelt Park District as you can find—

especial y regarding ghosts and haunting? And anything you might happen to hear about vampiric activity there.”

“Sure. Not a problem.” Delilah bobbed her head and I smiled. The new do suited her so wel ; it was choppy and spiky and gave her an edgy look that rocked. She’d given in, once it was cut, and tried to dye it back to her normal golden color. For the most part, the calico mess that had come through had abated, though it stil showed through here and there.

I looked at Camil e. “Now to the problematic. Today Chase is breaking the news of the vampire serial kil er. I’ve got my bookkeeper working on a gate for the Wayfarer, but Camil e, you’d better take extra precautions at the Indigo Crescent. I’m afraid the backlash could reach your shop, too.”

Her shop had been rebuilt and was open again, this time with Gisel e, a demon, as the general manager. But that didn’t preclude an attack by the Buffy wannabes.

She jotted down a note for herself. “Wil do. Anything else for now?”

I shrugged. “I get to go shopping for a dress, and if I want it, a fur coat, thanks to Roman. Why do I feel a little like I’ve stumbled into the movie set of Pretty Woman? Only I’m no whore and Richard Gere doesn’t hold a candle to Roman.” Memories of his fangs on my neck rose up and I closed my eyes, reveling once again in being able to let myself go, total y, without fear of hurting anyone. A rush of power surged through me and I jerked my head up, eyes wide, feeling like I could take on Shadow Wing himself.

Camil e coughed. “What the fuck did Roman do to you? I’ve never seen that look on your face before, and I’m not sure what to think.”

The energy rol ed through me and I shook my head. “I have no idea . . . unless . . . his blood—we exchanged blood and that means I am connected to his power. The effects wil last for a while, given his age and strength. I never thought about this possibility.”

“And because he drank from you, he’s got Dredge’s power in him?”

I nodded. “Yes, but he’s more powerful than either Dredge or me, so it shouldn’t have much of an effect on him.”

The phone rang. It was Tavah. “I just locked Erin in the safe room and I’m heading out to my lair.

Lucius just came in to watch for the day.” Lucius was Fae and he watched over the portal on weekdays. Kendra, an elf, took the weekends.

“Sounds good. I’ve asked my accountant to set up a gate system. Before you head out tonight, watch the news. You might want to double-check the security on your lair.”

I hung up, sighing. How many vampires were going to be targeted after Chase broke it to the press that we had a serial kil er with fangs on the loose?

Standing up, I glanced at the clock. Enough time for a quick shower and then into the dark slumber. I blew kisses to my sisters. As I headed downstairs, I had the sneaking suspicion my dreams were going to be ful of dark vampires and the flow of delicious, ancient blood.

“Menol y! Menol y! We need you awake. Now.” Camil e was standing far enough away to avoid my backlash as I sat up in bed, startled awake at the first moment of sunset.

I blinked. “What? I’m awake, I’m awake.” As I pul ed out of the long day of walking between worlds—and I’d had some incredible dreams of both Roman and Nerissa—I noticed that she was dressed in a heavy spidersilk skirt and a leather bustier over a pale lavender shirt, and she had on her granny boots. That could mean only one thing.

“Who the hel are we fighting?”

“How’d you guess?” She laughed, then sobered quickly. “Seriously, there’s trouble over in the Greenbelt Park District. The news broke about the vampire serial kil er, and some reporter also managed to scare up the rumors of ghostly activity. A group of wannabe vampire hunters and ghost hunters decided to join forces and exorcise the area. In the course of two hours, they’ve managed to rile up the spirits. Chase needs our help to see if we can figure out what to do about the ghosts that have come out of the woodwork.”

“Fuck. Fuck me hard. Why the hel do people pul this shit? They have no clue of what they’re doing and yet they go in and hold a little séance or fuck around with a Ouija board and before they know it, they’ve got a bunch of pissed-off spirits on their ass. Any chance we can keep the posers out while we clean up their mess?” I leaped out of bed and yanked on a pair of jeans and a turtleneck.

“Chase has put up a blockade, but a group of them are trapped in the basement of an old building with a group of angry spirits and can’t get out.”

I stopped. “Shit, I’m supposed to meet Wade at the bar. Let me make a quick cal .” I dialed Derrick and asked him to tel Wade I’d be there as soon as I could. “Okay, let’s head out and see what we can do.”

On the way upstairs, Camil e glanced over her shoulder at me. “You be careful. The city’s gone apeshit, and being a vampire is not a Good Thing right now. Seriously, it’s brought out every loco from the Eastside up to Shoreline and down to Renton. And not just the ones who want to turn you into a pile of dust mites. We’re talking seriously il FBHs. For some reason, the news sparked off that fringe element, and Seattle’s turned into loony-tunes town today. There’s an anti-Supe ral y going on down by the court-house and a new organization cal ing itself the “Earthborn Onlies” is holding some sort of vigil in front of the Supe-Urban Café. Marion has hired guards to keep watch, although the cops are doing a pretty good job of holding the nutjobs in check.”

Great. Just great. That was al we needed. This was why we weren’t tel ing people about Shadow Wing and the demons trying to break through. If news of a vampire serial kil er could do this, what would people do when they got wind of an impending demonic invasion?

Everybody was waiting in the living room for us. Except Delilah, that is. She was stil confined to home care. Her ribs were almost healed, but she was off any strenuous activity until the end of the year. But Shade, her lover, was there, as were Camil e’s three men, and the Demon Twins, as Iris cal ed Rozurial and Vanzir.

“Are the guards posted outside?”

Rozurial nodded. “They are. And your girlfriend’s here, but she’s taking a nap right now. Nerissa and I are going to stay with Delilah and Iris until you get back. Vanzir’s more effective around ghosts than I am.”

That meant it came down to Camil e and me, Smoky, Tril ian, Morio, Vanzir, and Shade.

Camil e and Morio would probably be our most effective weapons against the spirits, considering the death magic they were able to cook up between them.

“Okay, then. Let’s get a move on. Shade, you and Vanzir can ride with me. Camil e, we’l meet you guys there. Address?”

“Sent to your cel phone,” she said.

And so we headed out, into the night, to rescue a group of FBHs who wanted nothing more than to see me turn to dust. Just one of life’s little ironies.

The city streets sped by, a blur of lights, and the wheels of my Jag silently ate up the miles. We lived out in Bel es-Faire, but it wouldn’t take us long to speed over to the Greenbelt Park District.

The snow was softly fal ing, muting the sounds of traffic, and my windshield wipers kept time with the music as it thundered through the car. Camil e was up ahead, adeptly skirting the patches of ice marbling the road.

Final y, she swung a left turn at Daybreak Loop and I fol owed. Another right and then straight and we entered the Greenbelt Park District. Camil e slowed and I knew she was looking for street names. Another five minutes and she signaled a right turn, and I did the same. Halfway down the block we could see several police cruisers, and I slipped into a parking space right behind Camil e and her men. As they leaped out of the Lexus, Vanzir, Shade, and I slid out of my Jag and strode over to meet them. Silently, as a group, we headed in Chase’s direction.

Chase had cordoned off the road in the opposite direction, and behind the police barricades we could see a smal group of people, al screaming and shouting. Several of them carried camcorders, and a few had other assorted electronics draped around their necks. I immediately recognized them as gadgets for ghost hunting. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

“Let us in—”

“I can feel them—they need to be released!”

“Freedom of the press! You’re trampling on my First Amendment rights!”

I glanced at the group as Chase hurried over to us. “Troublemakers?”

“They wouldn’t be if they weren’t so cocky.” He let out a little growl and shook his head. For a moment his eyes shone in the darkness. Eye shine, like a cat. But he didn’t seem to realize it and I decided to leave that little conversation for later, when we weren’t facing big bad ghosties.