Page 25

Nikki raises her knife again, and I raise my hands—minus my own knife—in a placating gesture. I really need to work on my compulsive honesty.

“Wait. I killed the man who was trying to hurt her. She fainted, I realized she was my fated mate, and I brought her back to my den. The next day I told her all this, and the very short version is… she ran away.”

“So you kidnapped her,” she says.

“Technically, yes, but only for her own safety. So this wouldn’t happen.”

“So what wouldn’t happen?”

I’m losing patience for this back and forth. Rosalie is out there, and I don’t have time for a slide show right now. So I just say it. “I think she was taken by a vampire. He bit her and now I can’t find her through our link, so I need a personal item of hers to take to my witch friend to try to find her.” My panic dampens slightly as I realize just how insane all of this sounds. Even after witnessing my magic healing, I’m not sure she’ll be on board, and I don’t have time for this.

But apparently my brief bloody demonstration was enough for her because the next words out of her mouth are… “I’m coming with you.”

15

COOPER

The ride is tense. Nikki sits in the passenger seat with a necklace from Rosalie’s jewelry box and a sweater. She couldn’t decide which item was more personal, so she brought both. She clutches the sweater in her hands, her knuckles going white as I weave in and out of traffic.

She’s clearly rethinking all this. I can’t read minds, but she’s thinking loud enough that I can almost hear her thoughts. Or maybe it’s the combination of her posture, her scent of fear, and the way she keeps looking over at me. I assume she’s just now realized that I could be an otherworldly creature andalsoa liar, and that maybe all her initial fears were true.

“Where are we going again?” she says, breaking the silence. And I’m sure she thinks I’m about to cackle and say: My evil lair.

“To see an ex of mine.”

“What?” She turns in her seat toward me, her fear shifting to exasperation.

“She’s a witch. I told you that. We need her to find Rosalie.”

Nikki is still processing the supernatural world. I can’t blame her. It’s a big reality shift.

After another twenty minutes of fighting traffic, I turn off the engine in a parking lot on the edge of the city. We’re sitting infront of a green building with a blue neon sign that reads, “Coven Mart.”

Selene has a strange sense of humor.

Nikki just blinks at the building. “Was this always here?”

“Yeah, but she’s got a light cloak on it. Most people don’t really notice it. Those who do tend to be humans who do some version of what they call magic, but don’t actually have otherworld powers.”

“But this witch does?”

I nod. “This witch does.”

Selene gets a kick out of having a witch store selling stuff to normie humans that most of them don’t really know how to use. Witchcraft has gone mainstream enough that at least that part of the otherworld doesn’t have to be completely hidden. It hides in plain sight. She’s loving this ability to mix and mingle. Just a few centuries ago, her family barely escaped a witch burning purge—so she’s enjoying this new sense of freedom.

I glance at the clock on the dashboard. It’s already eight-thirty. The shop closed half an hour ago. We get out of the Jeep.

“Maybe I should just wait out here,” Nikki says.

“No. You’re coming inside where it’s safe. Vampires, remember?”

She looks around, uncertain, but follows me up to the door. I bang on it. We wait. I bang some more. Finally, the door opens.

Selene looks the same as always, long flowing black hair, a black corset, black mini-skirt, fishnets, combat boots, and dark red lipstick painting lips that always seem to smirk in a knowing way.

“Well, if it isn’t Cooper Blackmore. I knew you’d be back. I should make you work for it, but I know what you can do in the bedroom, so I’ll forgive you this once.” She licks her lips as her gaze slides down to a package she was once well acquainted with.

She finally notices Nikki. “Who the fuck is this? You know I don’t do threesomes unless it’s another guy.” She raises a hand, and I know what that fucking wrist flick can do, so I grab her by the arm before she can do damage.