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He should’ve never agreed to hire her. His curiosity be damned. Or he should just kill her. Pretend it never happened.

Julian grinned at the thought. Beat Alistair at his own game.

But he couldn’t do it. His entire being rebelled at the thought of hurting his mate, much less killing her. No, he would fight fate, but it was impossible for him to kill her, despite what his brain dictated.

He rubbed his chest, where a sharp pain was spreading at the thought of the woman’s death.

His heartbeat was a strange sound to his ears. The feel of it beating again was a distraction. As a human, he hadn’t been aware of it. As a vampire, he hadn’t missed it. Now, coming face to face with his soulmate, it was a loud pounding in his ears. He’d have to tune it out.

Julian glanced over when his door opened. Bryan swaggered inside. A dark fae, Bryan had a wild beauty to him that drew women like moths to flame. He had on a self-satisfied smile, one Julian recognized as the “I just gave another woman the best sex of her life” smile.

That smile disappeared right away, replaced by shock, then amusement.

“You’re mated.” It was a statement of fact. The fae’s emerald eyes glittered with humor.

Shit. Julian growled. “Not mated. I just met her.”

If Bryan could tell, so could others. He didn’t need everyone to know his business, especially not with the upcoming Gathering.

“Who’s the lucky girl?” Bryan walked over to the liquor cabinet to pour himself a drink.

“None of your business.”

“Is it the new human you hired?”

Julian couldn’t stop the snarl that left his lips. “How do you know?”

“She is the only new person today.” Bryan shrugged. His effortless movement didn’t fool Julian.

Bryan was fully alert, ready for anything. He had spent enough time with vampires to know the volatile nature of a mated vampire without the mate. After all, they’d both teased and mocked Felix in the past and hadn’t come away unscathed from the other vampire’s unyielding fury.

Although Bryan, one of the rare fae to grace this realm, had no ground to stand on when it came to violence.

In Julian’s long life, he’d only met four others, who had all attempted to murder him one way or another. The dark fae were capricious, savage, and easily offended. Julian had seen one stab a man in the chest because the human had accidentally spilled his mug next to the fae, but Bryan was different from his brethren. No less powerful, just less crazy. He preferred to spend his energy seducing and copulating with the opposite sex rather than murdering and wreaking havoc.

Julian had yet to meet a woman who could resist Bryan’s charms. His expression darkened, and a low growl rumbled up his chest.

“Leave her alone.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not interested.”

“You’re always interested in women.”

“True.” Bryan clicked his tongue. “But not when I risk losing a few body parts. No woman is worth that much effort.”

While Julian had no desire to claim his mate, if another male neared her, he might lose it. It was already difficult enough to reign in the compulsion to claim her. He needed no one to push him over the edge.

“Why’re you here?”

“No need to sound so antagonistic. I already promised to not touch your woman.” Bryan sprawled on the sofa and took a sip of his drink.

“Get to the point.” Julian didn’t want company. He wanted to kill something. Release all his pent-up energy. He wanted to drag his mate to bed and keep her there for a few days.

“You said to watch for Hunters, with the Gathering so close.”

Julian stiffened. Hunters were the military arm of the Organization, trained for combat and responsible for killing vampires. Was Leah a Hunter? She didn’t look like she had any military training.

“Have you seen any?” Julian asked.