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“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from me, little girl.”

Without waiting for a reply, he walks away from me. I watch him disappear into the shadows.

In his absence, I feel the chill of the night air. Goosebumps rise on my arms as the cold sinks into my bones.

I glance up at the window again.

I feel it again—the premonitionof being watched by invisible eyes.

10

KLAUS

She’s a complication.

She's been a part of my life for less than twenty-four hours, and she's already getting under my skin. Her curvy little body has been taunting and teasing me all day. Her big, curious eyes are permanently tattooed in the back of my mind.

I don't know how it happened, but she's become the only thing I can think about.

I call Alaric because sometimes he knows me better than I know myself.

He picks up right away.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Why do you always assume something is wrong?" I reply.

"Because you only call me when you're having a crisis," he says.

He's got me there.

"There is a crisis," I say, thinking about the girl with the pretty eyes and full breasts. "I shouldn't have taken your advice."

"It's about the girl, isn't it?" he asks. "You haven't stopped talking about her since you met her."

"She's too damn nosy," I complain. "I thought she would just do what's expected of her and mind her own business, but?—"

I pause when I hear a loud splashing noise on his end.

"Where are you?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm at the watering hole," he says.

Watering hole?

"What watering hole?"

"I'm in Botswana," he says. "Didn't I tell you?"

"No, I think I would have remembered if you told me you were going to Africa."

"I told you about the elephant poaching," he says.

"Yes, but I didn't think you'd go all the way there to investigate it in person," I reply.

My phone starts beeping. He's video-calling me.

I hit accept and his face fills my screen.