“What, you want to be the McDonald’s of death matches? In case you haven’t noticed, in most countries even animal fights are illegal.”

“The Apocalypse is coming, vampire. And in the aftermath, the world will be changed. Demons will walk the earth, and they love blood sport.”

No shit. “Demons will arrange for death matches in their own backyards at that point. Why would anyone pay to see them?”

“People can grill burgers in their backyards too, and yet, fast food chains are making a fortune on them.”

Nate wondered if Lena liked burgers. He’d love to watch her eat one. There was just something incredibly sensual about watching a female eat meat . . . especially if it was something he’d prepared himself.

And what the hell? Clearly, all his blood was still in his dick.

He thrust his hand through his hair and came to a halt, letting his fantasies run to ripping the demon’s throat out instead of watching Lena eat hamburgers. “So you intend to provide cheap entertainment without the hassle of procuring fighters, setting up an arena, managing cleanup . . .”

“All while providing comfort, food, and drink.” Fade grinned. “I’ll make legends of some fighters, stars everyone will want to be with. For a price, of course.”

“And, no doubt, you’ll make sure any competition is squashed.” The disgust that bubbled up when Fade grinned wider at that was startling. It had been decades since Nate experienced any kind of negative reaction to the demon’s machinations. “So why are you telling me this? Does this have something to do with the ‘business’ you mentioned?”

“I want you to manage it.”

Oh, hell, no. “I’m happy here.”

Fade waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Your happiness is not my main priority. You will oversee all elements of the business, from groundbreaking to building and hiring.”

This wasn’t going anywhere good, and Nate started walking again, as if he could outrun the demon and his unholy plans. “Have you chosen the site already?”

“Yes.” Fade fell into step with Nate. “With so many plagues mowing down humans, poisoned land is available on every continent. I’ll open clubs everywhere, but this first one will be in a South American jungle. You’ll leave tomorrow to assess and lay claim to the site. It should only take a couple of days.”

“Send Marsden. Or Budag. I have business here.”

Fade snarled, and Nate resisted the urge to snarl back. “This isn’t up for debate. You will go, and next week, on the eve of the new moon, you’ll return to the site to perform a sacrifice.”

Instincts twitching, Nate halted in the middle of the hallway. “Something tells me you’ve already chosen the victim.”

“I have. A lovely virgin I found in your own club.”

Nate let out a bitter laugh. “There hasn’t been a virgin in this club in . . . well, ever.”

“Oh, you’re so wrong.” Fade clapped his hand on Nate’s shoulder, his eyes little more than black, oily pools. “Your new medic, Vladlena, is untouched.”

Fuck. Very deliberately, Nate schooled his expression into neutrality. If Fade had even the slightest suspicion that Lena interested Nate at all, there would be no talking the demon out of this.

“I can’t lose another medic. They’re too hard to find. Get another virgin.” And seriously? She was a virgin? No . . . way. Then again, it would explain a lot. Like the pesky purity and innocence he’d been sensing.

“A sacrifice means nothing if it isn’t important. She’s important to this club, and therefore, perfect.” Fade lowered his voice to a dark, dangerous rumble. “There will be no more discussion on the matter, but to make sure you don’t f**k me over, I’m sending Budag to keep an eye on you. After you secure the site, you will return there with her and torture her to death.”

Since the demon wouldn’t be swayed, Nate’s only choice was to play along. For now. “As you wish.”

If Fade got his way, Lena would be dead next week. But he wasn’t going to get his way. Nate was. As soon as Nate returned from his trip, he’d make sure Lena couldn’t be sacrificed.

Because she’d no longer be a virgin.

Chapter 7

Lena had been employed at Thirst for four days now, and her time here had turned out to be a bust. Nate had gone missing, the door to his office locked so she couldn’t explore whatever lay behind the wine rack, and aside from that creepy Fade guy lurking around with a seemingly keen interest in her, she hadn’t uncovered anything even remotely unusual. Nate and Marsden ran a tight ship, and anyone who broke rules, from employees to patrons, paid the price. They didn’t even allow drugs in the place, which, according to Shade and Wraith, wasn’t normal for a place like this.

Something else that she didn’t think was normal was the way Marsden hovered, appearing out of nowhere to run interference when Fade got too close to her. Nate’s assistant also made sure she had everything she needed, and once, he even asked if she liked hamburgers. If she hadn’t been here in an undercover capacity, she’d actually enjoy working in the club.

Then there was the package Marsden had delivered a few minutes ago. She’d opened it, thinking it contained medical supplies. Her eyes had stung at the sight of the new stethoscope inside . . . an extremely expensive stethoscope with a gold-plated chestpiece and eartubes. There was no note, but she knew the gift was Nate’s doing, and his act of generosity leveled her. He understood her silly attachment to the one that had belonged to her father, knew that if she bought one, it would almost feel like a betrayal.

Nate had saved her that pain, and she was having a hard time holding onto her belief that he could be the monster she’d initially believed him to be.

“Nice necklace you have there.” Con, a blond vampire mated to Eidolon’s sister, Sin, stood in the doorway to the medical office, one shoulder propped against the doorjamb. All of the Sem brothers, as well as Sin, had come to check on her, and Eidolon called her every day when she was at home. Today Con had drawn check-on-Lena duty.

Lena smiled down at her new stethoscope. “Standard issue around here.”

“Uh-huh.” Con let out a dubious snort. “Even E doesn’t have one like that. You selling organs on the black market or something?”

“It’s not that expensive.” She looked up from disinfecting the exam table that had been bloodied by yet another drunk idiot who picked fights with bigger guys. “And I don’t need a babysitter. I’m doing fine by myself.”

Her father might have kept her completely secluded and sheltered, but in the nearly three years since his death, she’d gained some healthy independence. She’d forced herself to try new things and go to new places, and she hadn’t regretted a minute of it. Activities that appeared scary were never as bad as she’d thought, and she’d even done the human club thing with her roommate once. She hadn’t gotten brave enough to hit an underworld club yet, but after seeing how Thirst was run, she was ready to give it a try.

“I’m not babysitting,” Con said. “Just checking on you. We all wish we had more time to devote to this, but with the way the underworld is churning . . .”

He didn’t have to say anything else. The world was on the verge of Armageddon, and there were a lot more important things to deal with than a fight club that was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands.

“I get it,” she said. “I appreciate all your help.”

“Yeah, well, we might have something for you soon. Wraith is looking into whatever Gladius is. He sent a message just before I got here. Said he has a lead, asked for an hour to squeeze some dude for info, but he indicated that this is the break you need.”

Con’s news should have put her on the moon, but instead, all she felt was dread. As much as she wanted to find those responsible for killing her brother, she wanted Nate to not be one of them.

She pasted on a smile. “Great. Can’t wait.”

Con’s keen ears must have picked up the sound of footsteps, because he said quickly, “We want you back at UG. Eidolon will give you a raise.”

“I’ll match it and add 20 percent,” Nate said from behind Con, and her heart gave a little flutter. The stupid thing seemed to have missed him.

“We want her back,” Con said, not missing a beat.

Nate stepped inside the medic office, his blue-black hair gleaming under the harsh lights. “She’s mine.”

Con cocked a tawny eyebrow. “Yours?”

“Thirst’s,” Nate ground out. “I’ve come to promote her, in fact.”

“Is that so? Convenient timing.”

Nate’s ebony brows slammed down over eyes that darkened dangerously. “It’s my club. My timing conveniences me, and me alone. When I want something, I get it.” He shifted his gaze to her, and his eyes darkened more. “And I want her.”

There was no mistaking the heat banked behind those long lashes, and Lena’s breath caught. No male had ever looked at her the way Nate did, and she liked it.

Con, however, did not. He went taut, as if preparing to defend her, his silver eyes flashing like razor blades, but quickly, she put herself between them with a casual smile and took Con’s forearm.

“I’ll walk you out,” she said cheerily. “It was nice of you to stop by. Tell Eidolon I’ll consider his offer.”

A barely audible rumble sounded behind her, and a tingle of pleasure skittered over her skin at the possessive quality of Nate’s growl. Even if he only wanted her for the club, it was nice to be valued. Oh, she knew that UG valued her, but here she had fewer supervisors and more autonomy. It was . . . cool.

Remember why you’re here, idiot. Vaughn is dead. Right. Talk about a cold splash of water.

Con stopped at the doorway. “It’s okay, Lena. I can find my own way out.” His gaze shifted to Nate, and he bared his fangs before returning to her. “Just take care of yourself. If you need anything—” once again, he gave Nate the you’re-dead-if-you-harm-her look “—anything at all, you know to call.”

“I know.” She went up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “And thank you.”

Con strode away, and when she turned back to Nate, once again, her breath was stolen from her lungs. Dressed in faded jeans and a navy T-shirt that clung to every sculpted muscle like shrink-wrap, he stood next to the exam table, his black mane cascading down his back and around his shoulders in a shimmering waterfall, his big body vibrating with lethal power. He was . . . magnificent.

“Is he your lover?” Nate’s voice was deep, husky, and she shivered with feminine appreciation.

“Hardly. He’s mated to my boss’s sister.”

“I’m your boss.”

Damn. Nice screw-up. “Of course you are. It’s just that I worked there for a long time, and it’s hard to get used to the fact that I’m not there anymore.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he said nothing. Instead, in brutal, heart-pounding silence, he strode to the door and closed it.

The click of the lock was the loudest sound she’d ever heard, and she actually jumped like a twitchy rabbit.

Riveted by curiosity and the mere sight of him, she watched as he wheeled around and closed the distance between them. As he looked down at her, his expression was a curious mix of hunger and regret that she didn’t understand.

“Now,” he said softly, “we finish what we started in my office.”

Nate was f**king lit. The time he’d spent in the jungle at the site of the new fight club had worked him into a knot of nerves and need. He’d long ago determined that the more primitive the environment, the more his baser instincts surfaced.

It didn’t get more primitive than the South American rain forest.

Thanks to the make-out session in his office with Vladlena before he left, he’d already been coming out of his skin, but then the trip to the steamy jungle jacked him up even more. Standing beneath ancient trees, on soil touched only by beasts as he inhaled the clean, unpolluted air that smelled of rain, plants, and a jaguar that had passed recently, had made him vibrate with pure, animal desire. He’d wanted to hunt, to feed, to mate.

He’d understood the moment he’d set foot on the site why Fade had chosen it. There was an elemental power at play there, and no underworld creature would be able to resist it. A gladiatorial arena placed on the soil would become the demon equivalent of the Roman Colosseum, and with the blood sacrifice to bind evil to it . . . it was conceivable that the land could be claimed in the name of Sheoul—or hell, as humans called it.

The very idea was horrifying, but right now Nate was having trouble concentrating on anything but the female in front of him. He was so aroused, so on fire that he expected to see smoke from the friction of his clothes on his skin. Finding her with that as**ole vampire, their relationship so familiar, hadn’t helped. Nate had wanted to destroy the male, deliver his fangs to Vladlena on a necklace, and then rut with her on the very ground where he’d won the battle.

And wasn’t that sexy. He nearly rolled his eyes. Damned jungle had turned him into a caveman.

Running with the caveman thing . . . he got all testosterone-buzzed at the sight of her wearing his gift. It might be a mere stethoscope, but she’d accepted his offering, and for some reason, it made him want to beat his chest and drag her into his lair. Instead, because a sliver of civility had pierced through the jungle haze, he gripped her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. She didn’t protest. Not that he expected her to; the scent of her desire filled the room with her special perfume, ratcheting up his need even more.