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Her eyes came up when she met mine, a brilliant blue as pure as the sky on a bright, summer's day. I'd been right, she was definitely a knockout up close. Too bad her eyes took on a malicious glint the longer I stood before her. It kind of dulled the pretty, if you asked me.

I tilted my head to the side as I studied her features, memorizing them.

"And who might you be?" I asked in a falsely sweet voice. Kill them with kindness, it was always the way to go.

Her lip curled in a half smile/half snarl that looked a lot like disgust to me. For whatever reason this woman hated me and she was not doing a good job of hiding it.

"My name is Rachel," she answered in a voice just as falsely sweet as mine. "I've been with the Council now for roughly two months. My home was attacked by hunters and I was the only one to survive. It's a miracle they found me at all. I guess I'm just lucky that way."

If her entire family, or whoever it was that lived with her at the time, were now dead then I didn't think there was any way I would consider her lucky. More like sad and alone.

Quinton stepped up beside me and took hold of my free hand, the one Tyson wasn't already holding on to.

"How is it that we've never seen you before today?" Quinton asked in an empty voice. "We all get to meet the females at one time or another and I've never seen you before in my life. What coven are you from?"

Smart of him to ask.

But I didn't think she was from a coven. Maybe that's what he was trying to force her to say. With Quinton, there was always a motive.

She looked up at Quinton through thick, white eyelashes. "I've never had a coven before. I just lived with my family. We didn't know anything about the Council or anything like that."

The way she looked at him was really starting to bother me and I thought maybe I was just being the jealous, crazy girlfriend when she did something I had not expected. She reached out and ran her finger down the flames that licked their way up his forearms. I watched that finger trail down his arm with a growing sense of unease.

"I'm looking to find a coven to join," she murmured as she continued to watch him through half lowered lids and those stupidly thick lashes.

I swallowed thickly, and went to take a step back so I didn't reach out and snatch that hand away from him when the hand Quinton had ahold of squeezed mine almost to the point of pain. I looked up at him, shocked, and almost took a step away fromhimat what I saw on his face. There was so much rage and hatred in that one look that if it were aimed my way, I would have fled his presence immediately and ran screaming in the opposite direction.

Miss Rachel seemed to be made of thicker stock than me, because she just kept right on trailing her fingertips along his tattoos while she watched him like she wanted to eat him. And he looked back at her like he wanted to rip her throat out and spill her blood right here across the cracked pavement of the sidewalk.

I wanted to tear her fingers away from his smooth, hot skin but was almost afraid to touch her. We were here as guests of the Council and she was much the same. I didn't think getting physical with her would win me any brownie points with them and could probably end up landing me with some severe punishment I wouldn't enjoy. You absolutely did not mess with their females. I knew this because I was considered one of them. I couldn't touch her, not unprovoked. The Council might look the other way if she were male, but not with her being female. I assumed this was why Quinton hadn't removed her touch as well.

It killed me though because he looked upset and she didn't care and kept molesting him anyway.

I was saved from having to get into a verbal tussle with her when Julian strode right up to her and stepped between us. She was forced to take a step back and her hand fell away from him. I wanted to kiss him.

Julian stuck his hand out to Rachel and politeness made it so she was forced to shake his hand or look like the incredibly rude bitch she was.

Quinton pulled on my hand, tugging me into his body. Tyson let me go and I circled my arms around Quinton's waist. He rubbed his arm against mine, rubbing away her touch on his skin.

"Julian," Julian said in greeting. "It's lovely to meet you, Rachel."

He sounded charming, actually happy to be meeting her, and I wanted to laugh. She ate it up like candy.

She, like most others, missed the darkness that lurked underneath the surface with Julian. I wished her all the best of luck with that one.

There was no surge of jealousy this time when she touched one of my guys. Julian held his elbow out to her and she practically preened under his attention.

"Shall we?" he asked her in a sweet, sultry voice.

"Yes," she purred. "They are waiting for you. Let me lead the way." She latched onto his arm like she was afraid he might snatch it away if she took too long.

She turned back to me and gave me a smug look of victory. I almost laughed in her face.

Damien shrugged Tyson aside with a look of apology, but he didn't verbalize it. He pulled me away from Quinton and we held hands as we followed Rachel and Julian around the side of the motel. I'd never been back here before and was somewhat terrified of what we'd walk into.

Damien's mouth came close to my ear while we walked side by side, hand in hand. "You know he doesn't mean anything hurtful by this, right?" he whispered.

I turned, almost bumping noses with him, and he had to jerk his head back. I grinned at him, bright and big, and he stopped walking, pulling me to a stop along with him. He stared at me as if he'd never seen me before.