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“Okay? Really? That’s good?”

She bent over and nudged his nose with her own, hiding a smile over his startled wonder. One could almost think he’d never planned a date before. “It’s great. You’re great.”

He answered that with an exuberant kiss.

10

Raze had been wandering around the city for half the day when he picked up a tail. He took a circuitous route to be sure, and when he was, he pulled out his phone and called Vashti. “Problem.”

“Hopefully, I’ve got a solution.”

“It’s two o’clock in the afternoon, and I’ve got a minion sniffing after me.”

There was silence, then a whistle. “Well, that’s interesting.”

“It’s scary as fuck, and you know it.” Only the Fallen could take sunlight; minions were mortally photosensitive. The only exceptions were minions who’d recently drunk Fallen blood, which afforded them temporary immunity that would last seventy-two hours at most. “We have a full accounting of the Fallen?”

“I’ll double-check, but I can’t think of anyone in that area besides you.”

“Let me know what you hear. In the meantime, I’ll chat with my shadow and see what I can shake loose.” He killed the call and shoved his phone in his pocket.

A group of teenagers exited a store in front of him, clogging up the sidewalk and providing the distraction he needed.Darting behind them, he entered the store and shot out the rear delivery entrance. He found himself in a small alley lined with trash and dumpsters, with fire escapes framing the scene from above. Leaping the two-story distance to the first escape ledge, Raze settled in to wait, knowing his tail would eventually follow his scent.

Ten minutes later, a tiny brunette stepped out of the shop into the alley. He took a deep breath and smelled vampire. Crouching, he prepared to jump when it struck him that she wouldn’t be alone. She would be half of a pair.

He hopped down and blocked the swing of her fist, then shielded his groin when she attempted to take him down with a knee to the nuts. She pressed on, raining blows and kicks, which he deflected with greater speed, his forearms parrying jabs so quickly that he would’ve seemed to be no more than a blur to a mortal eye. He waited for the perfect opening and took it, stunning her with a blow to the neck and catching her in a headlock. Spinning her around, he caged her with her back to his chest.

He yanked her head to the side and bit deep. Her memories flooded into him along with her blood, giving him all the answers he needed…except for where to find Francesca. The baroness had gone under, contacting her minions via phone or email. His fangs retracted, and he was licking the tiny wounds closed when her mate rushed into the alley.

“Behave, Lake,” Raze warned her softly, puzzled by some of what he’d read in her mind. “Or I’ll tell him about your little piece of ass on the side.”

She stilled, breathing roughly.

Her partner, Forest—how sickeningly sweet was the deliberate pairing ofthosenames?—froze at the sight of his woman helpless in Raze’s arms. “Hurt her and die.”

Raze grinned but noted the shine of feral madness in the minion’s eyes. He’d seen inside Lake’s mind and knew what these two did on their dates—blood and pain were their aphrodisiacs. “I won’t hurt her…yet. But I’ve got her scent, and I’ve drunk her blood. I could find her in the Times Square crowd on New Year’s Eve. Think about that.”

Forest’s hands clenched and unclenched rhythmically. “What do you want?”

“Take a message back to the baroness. Tell her to quit dicking around and face me. I have places to go, rogues to kill. I can’t hang around Chicago indefinitely.”

“You’d fight a woman? A lady. One of your own kind.” Forest began to shift restlessly, licking his lips. His eyes were lit with a sick hunger. It seemed Forest found it arousing to watch his woman manhandled.

It was a terrible fact that most minions lost their minds after the Change. Mortals weren’t designed to live without their souls, and the Change took that from them. If it were up to the Fallen—who were the source of the dark gift—only carefully selected mortals would be Changed. Still, vampirism was like a secret shared only with trusted friends, who shared it only with their most trusted friends, and so on. The spread had long ago become uncontrollable as the unstable minions began to Change others indiscriminately. Adrian’s job was to mitigate the fallout, an ongoing mission pitting the Sentinels against the Fallen in a contentious battle of wills.

“The baroness is no lady,” Raze shot back. “I’ve watched a video of her slicing an innocent man open—alive—while humming a merry tune. If she can do that, she can fight me. So give her my message: I’m not wasting my time hunting someone who hides behind their minions. She’s got forty-eight hours to take me on, or I’m passing her off to Adrian.”

“I’ll tell her.” Forest smiled with eager malice.

Raze shoved the vampress forward into her mate. “I’ll be seeing you two again.”

Hopping back onto the fire escape, he climbed to the roof and set off from there.

11

“No way.” Delia planted herself on one of Kim’s kitchen island barstools and shook her head emphatically. “Guys who look like Biker Boy are personality-deficient. That’s the trade-off for the hotness—they’re self-absorbed jerks.”

Kim smiled and continued putting groceries away. “You’re right. Absolutely. Except for Raze.”