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“You!” Julian snapped his fingers at a tall, buff vampire in the back. “Clothes.” To the onlookers, he leveled a quelling glare. “Rest of you, scat.”

They scattered like ants.

As he pulled on the vampire’s pants, he reached out to Bryan mentally, a scowl darkening his features when he couldn’t sense the fae. Bryan wasn’t within his telepathic range, which meant he was far from Vegas. Julian could have really used his teleportation.

Forget about Bryan. Get to Leah.

“Blood. Where?” he snapped. It would cost him precious time to feed but going after Leah as weakened as he was would be suicide.

“In the kitchen,” the vampire mumbled.

“Take me.”

Julian downed the few bags of cold blood in the fridge. A feeder would’ve been his best option, but he had no more time to lose. He grimaced as the holes in his wings closed. It’d been a while since they’d been injured. Being the most vulnerable part of him, he rarely used them when in danger, not even for a quick escape.

Marek, where to?

East, toward the casinos. They’re on their way out of the city.

I’m going after them. Stopping them is our top priority. Without killing Leah.Julian added the last part, so there weren’t any misunderstandings.

Got it.

Once Julian was on the roof, he retracted his wings. Though flying was faster, the wings were an easy target. He followed Marek’s directions and heard the sound of the chase coming from below, cursing the intense afternoon sun.

Leah had timed the attack perfectly with sunset over six hours away. If they left the shield boundaries, he couldn’t follow them. Now that he wasn’t in the midst of a fight and the pain had reduced to a dull ache, he had time to think about what had happened.

Leah had almost driven a stake through his heart. No one had gotten that close to killing him for as long as he could remember. Not even during continuous riots and protests around the world when the vampires first revealed themselves a century ago.

He should’ve known this was coming. She worked for the Organization, a fact he’d let himself forget, almost at the cost of his life.

But…

His brows drew together as the scene unfolded in his mind.

Something wasn’t right.

Julian heard Leah’s plaintive cry again.Wake up! Wake up!His eyes widened, and he almost missed his next jump. She’d warned him and wakened him, knowing what she was about to do.

Why? Why would she do that if she aimed to kill him?

And her tears. She’d been crying. Her nose and ears had bled.

Realization dawned. She didn’t want to do it.

Someone, something, had forced her.

Could it be?

The thought shouldn’t have shocked him. After all, as a vampire, he could control humans, which was why humans had invented the C2 implant. He could even control vampires if he wished. It made sense that the Organization had figured out a way to control people as well, or at least was trying to.

Leah had a C2 implant. Did the Organization use a different implant on her, one that functioned as a C2 implant but also had another purpose?

Had Leah known?

No, she couldn’t have. Leah, who valued freedom and choice above all else, wouldn’t let anyone control her.

She’d been aware of her actions. They may have control of her body, but not her mind. A fist squeezed Julian’s heart at the thought. Leah must be dying inside, to be controlled like that.