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It swung open under my hand, and I caught my breath. Shit. The house was quiet. Silent, really, and I closed my eyes as I listened. The wards weren’t even fucking in place yet. I’d arranged that for after all the work had been completed.

But it should have been safe.

A clock ticked somewhere, and something settled. A dripping tap and the hiss of water along a pipe… But nothing else.

No heartbeat, no breathing sounds.

I stepped inside. Leia’s scent was strong, so she’d definitely been here. So had my men—working on the renovations. But that was the other issue with the silence. Where were the workers?

No one was here. But wait. No. I was wrong.

Like an undertone to the odor of the paint, there was a copper tang. Unfamiliar vampire, too, but that could be my work crew—I didn’t know them. They just worked for me.

I followed the scent of blood, past knocked-over paint buckets and through rooms where all the lights were on, to three dead workmen. They lay in a pool of blood, their heads half hanging off, and their hearts had been ripped from their chests. This was overkill and then some.

My own heart knocked against my ribs, gathering speed as I pulled my phone from my pocket and increased my walking pace, almost blurring through the house.

“Leia!” Her name was a plea. Something desperate as I forced it from my lips.

I took the steps two at a time and only glanced at my phone as I scrolled to Jason’s speed-dial.

“Nic?” He already knew something was wrong. Could probably feel it in our blood bond.

“She’s not here.” I gasped the words out. “She’s…something’s wrong.”

I followed her scent to a closed door and swallowed my next words with an audible gulp.

There was no heartbeat in the house, at least three dead workers, and a closed bedroom door.

I closed my eyes briefly as I pushed the door open, not wanting to confront my worst fear. But it was okay. Her bedroom was empty, and the bed didn’t even look slept in. A breath of relief whooshed from me.

“Nic? I’m on my way.” Jason sounded distracted now like he was focused on another task. “I’m getting my gun from the safe.”

“I’m at her house. She’s not here.” I started to turn around, but something lying on the comforter of the pristine bed caught my gaze. I stepped closer. “Fuck, no.”

I picked up the note, and the paper rustled as I tightened my fingers. My chest tightened, and I couldn’t draw a breath or push one out. My head pounded, and my stomach roiled as I fought to retain my last meal.

“Nic?” Jason seemed to have forgotten most of his other words.

“We’ve got a problem.” I spoke through gritted teeth, and I didn’t need to see my reflection to know my eyes glowed red as I focused on the note again:

Let the war begin.

I bellowed my rage into the bedroom I’d had created for Leia—a bride’s room with no bride. Someone had taken what belonged to me.

But worse, they’d taken Leia.

My Leia.

War. Fuck, yes. Someone had my mate, and I’d win every battle in front of me to reclaim her.

I’d burn the whole world to ash if I needed to.

Chapter 21

Leia

I groaned and rolled over, my head pounding. Music wove around me. A jazz trumpet, loud and far too happy. And the pounding inside my head was matched outside my head by the jarring beat of a large drum. I swallowed against a roil of nausea.