My head was swimming. “Oh?”

“I’m not the man you think I am.” His hand slid up my leg, catching on the hemline of my skirt. “I’m not selfless and kind.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Oh, but it is. I haven’t been helping you all this time because I’m good. I was helping you for my own selfish reasons. I wanted you to like me.”

“I do like you.” I gasped as his fangs traced up my neck.

“How much do you like me?” he asked, teasing my pulsing, throbbing vein between his teeth.

“Oh, gods, just bite me already, or I’ll bite you.”

He looked at me, a silver sheen sliding across his blue eyes. “As the lady commands.”

Harker dipped his mouth again, but before his fangs could break my skin, a fist flashed before my eyes, knocking him off of me. I snapped my head around to find Nero standing over us.

Harker jumped to his feet, his eyes alight with magic. “You’re spoiling my fun, Nero.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nero ground out, cold and cruel.

“Showing the lady a good time. Something you were apparently unwilling to do.”

Nero’s jaw clenched up, and it was then, as I blinked back the effects of the magic drops, that I realized what was going on all around me. No one was watching us, despite the big scene Nero and Harker were making. The other sofas’ occupants were too busy biting one another and making out. Dear gods.

I stumbled to my feet, trying not to trip over them. My head was swirling with a thousand twirling lights. “What is in those drops?” I demanded, looking at Harker.

“Nectar. Diluted down,” he added quickly. Guiltily?

“You saw her strong reaction to it before. You shouldn’t have given her more,” Nero said, anger humming against his cool facade.

“Her reaction? You mean how she bit you and would have had her way with you if I hadn’t stepped in.” Harker laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, I saw that all right. I saw how you didn’t even try to stop her. You wanted her. And you think you have the right to judge me? At least I gave her a choice of whether to take the drops instead of pouring it down her throat.”

“That was part of the initiation ceremony,” Nero said coolly. “And if you weren’t so high on Nectar, you would realize that.”

“You’re not the epitome of sobriety yourself,” replied Harker.

I looked at Nero, surprise hitting me when I realized Harker was right. Nero’s pupils were dilated. He’d sampled the Nectar tonight too. What had driven Mr. Straight-and-Narrow to do such a thing?

“I found myself in need of calming down,” he told me.

Oops. Had I asked myself that out loud? I really needed to stay away from that Nectar.

“Why? Calm down about what?” I asked. I just couldn’t stop talking.

Nero’s eyes flickered from Harker to me. Oh. He didn’t like that we were hanging out. I wasn’t even sure what to think about it. It’s not like Nero had wanted to hang out with me. He had walked away from me.

“Are you all right, Leda?” Nero asked me.

“I’m fine.”

“Good.”

He spun around and punched Harker. They rolled and kicked and grappled like there was no tomorrow. Their fight finally drew the attention of the drop-licking, blood-sucking, lip-locked people all around us.

Nero tackled Harker against the handrail. Harker grabbed him, pulling and heaving. The two men fell over the barrier, spilling down into the club below. I ran for the stairs, but they were already up and fighting again. Their punches were sharp, their kicks crisp. Every movement was pure perfection. It was like watching two masters at their best.

If only they hadn’t been trying to kill each other.

As soon as the fight had landed down below, everyone had scrambled to the edges of the dance floor. They were watching Nero and Harker with a mix of fear and awe. Neither of them was in his right mind right now, thanks to the Nectar. Someone had to stop them before one of them killed the other. I looked around for this special someone, but no one looked prepared to step into the middle of the brawl.

I ran down the stairs, trying to settle my scrambled mind as I hurried toward them. I cut through the air of raging male hormones and magic-induced insanity, planting myself right between them. For one terrifying moment, I feared they wouldn’t stop, that they’d plow right through me in their mission to tear each other apart. But they did stop.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I demanded, my voice echoing through the silent room. I almost cringed at the volume of my own voice, but I couldn’t afford to show any weakness now. I needed to hold my ground.

“Get out of the way, Leda,” Nero said, the timbre of his voice a warning to one and all that they’d best turn around and run for their lives now.

One by one, the people all around us did just that. The club emptied. Soon it was just me and the raging twins. If I’d known what was best for me, I would have left too and just let them fight to the death. But I couldn’t do that. I was pissed off as hell at the pair of them right now, but I did not want either of them to die.

“You two need to get your heads on straight,” I told them, my eyes burning with anger. They’d probably taken on that creepy silver-blue glow too. Good. It would show them I meant business.

Or maybe not. They continued to glare at each other through me. I had the feeling that if I took just one step back, they’d start going at it again.