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Elias roared, and in a flash the elder was gone.

He reached out and grabbed me tightly, his chest heaving in anger. “Marlowe, I’m so sorry. I got here as fast as I could. Are you hurt?”

I buried my face into him and sobbed deeply, not finding the words to express how I felt in the moment. He held me silently, reaching through the bond instead to offer his love, support, and protection.

It seemed so silly for me to be concerned with the way human women were reacting to Elias, when he had to deal with problems like vampyrs trying to take me. The sharp sting on my neck was starting to put things into perspective.

I pulled back, wiping my cheeks. “I’ll be okay, I think. Where’s my coffee?”

“Brat,” he snorted, his relief palpable. He tousled my hair. “Come on, if you want coffee, you’re coming with me this time.”

10

ELIAS

My phone blew up minutes after the bloodsucker left. Marlowe had gone into the bathroom to clean up her neck, and I held back a sigh as Cam’s name flashed across the screen.

“Yeah?”

“What the fuck did you do? What happened to Marlowe? I knew I couldn’t trust you alone with her. Let me talk to her,NOW,” he barked.

I winced at the command, but quickly regained my composure. “She’s a little shaken up, but she’s fine. A vamp ambushed us at her old place.”

“Itoldyou we should have all gone with her!” he yelled. “But no, you were too selfish. You’re always putting yourself above the pack, and now Marlowe’s suffered because of it. I’m coming out there on the next flight, and I’m going out to Chicago with you guys, too. No more private trips. I should have trusted my gut when you tried to sell me on this bullshit last night…”

I held my phone a good distance from my ear, letting him get it out of his system.

Marlowe finally came back out, a small Band-Aid on her skin the glaring proof of my mistake. My failure.

I couldn’t quite defend myself against Cam’s tirade because deep down, I knew he was right. My greedy desire to have our omega to myself, to take this trip with her alone, had put her in danger.

Cam?she mouthed. I nodded, and she took the phone from my hand.

“Baby?… I’m fine, really… It’s not Elias’s fault, I asked him to give me some space while I sorted out my feelings… He got here right away, the vampyr didn’t hurt me… You don’t have to come out here, I won’t leave Elias’s side again. I learned my lesson… Okay, fine,helearnedhislesson, you’re right…”

She continued to talk him down, her voice smooth and calming, her tone placating and sweet.

“I promise, I’m fine. If we run into another vampyr, I’ll insist you come out, okay? I love you, too, baby. Give Julian a kiss for me!”

She finally hung up and gave me back my phone. “There, all fixed.”

Nolan’s name flashed next and she took it back immediately while I guided her out the door. “Hi Nolan… everything’s fine now, but there was a vampyr waiting for me…”

Marlowe repeated the story again to Archer on the street outside the cafe, finally satisfying everyone and bringing them back from the edge of buying tickets out here. She was an absolute force to watch with the way she spoke to each of their personalities. She asked Nolan to help her find a moving company, and appealed to Archer’s need for reason and logic. But it didn’t feel manipulative, it was just insightful.

“Okay,” she said, handing me back my phone and looking at the menu by the door. “Ooh, a cranberry orange latte, that sounds delightful.” My lips curled in disgust and she laughed, dragging me inside.

The display case was bursting with baked goods, and I rubbed the small of her back and pointed towards them. “Do you want anything to eat?”

She leaned down to get a closer look when a voice called out from a table in the back. “Marlowe?”

A tall, thin Asian woman with large glasses and bleached blonde tips, dressed in baggy pants and a fitted long-sleeved shirt, came running forward.

“Esther!” Marlowe cried. “Oh my god, how are you?”

Esther slapped her playfully on the stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back in town?” Her eyes noticed my arm wrapped around her friend’s waist and they wandered up towards my face. “Whoa, you aren’t one of the guys I met.”

I raised my eyebrow and looked down at Marlowe. “She’s met some of the guys?”