“I am pretty stubborn.”

“I see something in you.” He met my eyes, and it was as though I could look through to his soul—to see his pain behind the wall he’d built up around himself. “I don’t know what it is. That same darkness that I have in me maybe. Being stubborn isn’t enough. You also need to learn to control the urges that plague us all.”

“Why do you care? I thought you wanted to expose all my secrets.”

“I am a patient man. If you die now because you’re not strong enough or you succumb to the bloodlust, then I will never find out.”

I laughed, lifting my glass to him. We sat there in silence as I watched Ivy. She was dancing with three guys at once. Something about seeing her undiluted happiness made me bold. Or maybe it was the fact that Nero had just spilled his soul to me.

“Want to dance?” I asked him.

He looked at me for a moment, clearly torn. Prudence won out. “I don’t think that would be appropriate.” He stood. “I must go.”

Then without another word, he walked across the room to join Captain Somerset. And I just watched him like an idiot.

“I’ve been wondering what’s between them,” Harker said as he sat down beside me. He grinned. “Neither one will admit a thing.”

“Oh?”

I was trying not to let that bother me. What did I care if Nero liked someone else? It’s not like he was good for me. I suppressed a shudder as I remembered the vicious way he’d torn up the vampires back in that castle. I was not going to fall for the bad boy. Not this time. It only ever ended in heartache.

“Come on,” Harker said, taking my hand. “Let’s dance.”

Harker was clearly not worried about what was ‘appropriate’, and he wasn’t trying to slowly kill me. Plus, he had a body to die for, a soul of pure kindness, and he actually knew how to have a good time. He didn’t put on his uniform to go to a club. He was wearing dark jeans and a fitted black shirt with translucent black short sleeves. The front zipper was slid down just far enough to hint at the rock-hard physique beneath.

“I’m glad you could come,” he said as he set his hands on my hips.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it, not if you might be here.”

I blushed. Harker was handsome and so human, so approachable. And he really cared about me. I could have an actual conversation with him, one that didn’t immediately deteriorate into a verbal sparring match.

“You look beautiful tonight, Leda.” He lifted his hand to brush a strand of hair from my face.

“Thanks.” I blushed again. “You look nice too.”

His hand curled around my back. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

His arm wrapped around me, he led me from the dance floor and up the winding staircase into an opulent lounge of lush sofas and antique carpets. I paused at the top to look over the handrails at the flashing and pulsing scene below.

Harker’s hand slid around mine. His smile widening, he moved us onto one of the sofas. Most of the others were already occupied. Groups small and large filled them, talking and laughing and dripping tiny glowing drops into one another’s mouths.

“What are those drops?” I asked Harker.

“Just a little magical something to help people unwind,” he said. “Life at the Legion is tough, full of hard battles. We stare death in the face almost every day. If we don’t wind down every so often, we explode.”

“Does Nero ever wind down?” I asked. The words just came out.

I regretted it immediately as disappointment crinkled Harker’s brow. I was here with him. I shouldn’t be dwelling on Nero.

“Nero doesn’t unwind,” Harker answered despite his disappointment, thereby proving he was a better person than I’d ever be. “That’s his problem. That’s why he loses control sometimes. I hope you won’t make the same mistake.” He lifted the vial with the glowing liquid to me.

I stole a glance at the sofa across the aisle from us. Ivy sat there with one of the men she’d danced with downstairs. She opened her mouth, and as he poured a single drop onto her tongue, a look of pure rapture spread across her face. She looked so happy, so free. I yearned for a moment like that, a moment of pure happiness in this dark world. I turned back to Harker, opening my mouth.

A satisfied grin stretched his lips. “Good.”

The liquid hit my tongue, a drop of ecstasy exploding inside my mouth. Dizzy with magic and the unraveling strands of my own mind, I swayed to the side. Harker’s hands caught my arms, leaning me against the back of the sofa.

“Whoa, there,” he said. “You’re sensitive for a first-timer.”

“The effect grows more intense with time?”

“As your magic level grows.” His lips were only inches from mine.

“More please.”

He chuckled, low and sexy. “You’re adventurous, aren’t you?”

He poured a few drops into his own mouth, then gave me two more. Lightning flashed across my body, liquid and hot. Through the cloud of euphoria, I saw Ivy climb onto the man’s lap, moaning as he bit her.

Harker brushed his hand across my cheek, returning my attention to him. “Leda,” he said, his voice thick, deep.

“Yes?”

“I have a confession to make.” His mouth dipped to my neck, trailing a line of burning kisses across my skin.