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Grams didn’t pull any punches, and she certainly didn’t cater to people she loved. Not me, not her sons, not Nigel. When it came to our job, Grams was a real hard-ass.

“We’re...”

I set my eyes on him, not ready to announce our relationship. “What he means to say is that I’ve only just met Phillip, and it’s a bit rattling for me to go cold turkey on my partnership with Nigel.”

“It was never meant to be a partnership,” Grams retorted, sobering the conversation in one sentence.

Phillip stayed where he was, leaned up at the far wall with not a care in the damn world. His dark combat boots were crossed over and several long stakes were still strapped to his thighs as he focused on his phone screen beaming up at him.

Like nothing we said had anything to do with him.

I stole a glance at the Austrian, only for his bewitching smile to take out my lungs a second later.

That much charm in one person should be against the laws of nature. Sadly for me, he managed to collect it all in a single glance and wink—which was evidence enough of a life of playing with people’s hearts.

Nigel cleared his throat, adjusting his t-shirt with a stolen look my direction. “I don’t like it.”

“For what reason?” Grams posed calmly. “You told me the reason you even did it in the first place was to repay my kindness. Something I never asked for, I’ll remind you. So what changed?”

His jaw strained against my grandmother’s pointed stare. And when her eyes settled on me, it was clear she knew something was up. I wasn’t forbidden from being in a relationship, but Grams made it clear I shouldn’t be in one until I was a fully trained Hunter.

“We—” he started, clearly about to say something damning.

I cut in sharply. “Is there any rule against dating between Hunters and Shifters? You’ve never mentioned Shifters before Nigel, so how are there rules?”

Phillip’s eyes caught mine for a second before his secret smile gave him away. The bastard was enjoying this. Now I was almost confident the dude wanted to sow trouble.

“It’s not a good idea, no,” Grams answered after a second’s pause. “I won’t forbid something if you really want it, but V...” her eyes found mine and the sadness dwelling in them shut down my anger, “there are reasons Shifters and Hunters never truly collaborated. I can’t go into the details. While there aren’t really any rules against friendship, there are reasons we don’t...mate with them.”

Mate? Did my Grams just saymate?!

Despite my face saying it all, the pitch of my voice would’ve totally given me away. “I haven’t! I mean...we’re not...”

Not that it was anyone’s business, but Nigel hadn’t even kissed me. The dude barely hugged me, claiming I was underaged and it was better if we didn’t do anything that could get me in trouble with Grams. Staring at him half naked on missions was practically sex to me these days.

It wasn’t something I was used to, craving someone. But over the last few months, I’d say it was a feeling that grew like a cancer on a sound mind. Now, it was all I could think about.

Damn hormones.

Maybe that was the entire reason I drooled over some bad boy vampire hunter; Nigel was too careful and considerate, and I didn’t want to push harder than necessary.

I didn’t blame him.

Any girl would be lucky to call him hers. It was amazing to have someone genuinely respect you, and I wanted to be considerate of what he wanted to do. I told myself over and over it was for the best we didn’t do anything. But, if I was truly honest with myself, I needed someone who took charge and claimed me as theirs.

Too long I’d done exactly what was expected of me. Too long I was bound to an oath I never voluntarily took. I just wanted someone to help me break the rules every once in a while.

Shit. I was the actual worst. Wasn’t that the complete opposite of women empowerment? I was a walking, talking contradiction. Some badass huntress who didn’t need no man I was turning out to be.

Nigel crossed his arms and glanced at Phillip, disdain deepening the lines of his face. “Rose—”

“You promised me,” she started softly, eyes on Nigel. “I can’t say why, Nigel, but there were reasons I made you promise me that one thing specifically.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and I watched the two of them in perplexity before Nigel nodded and left the room. The door at the front of the house creaked and then slammed shut. My shoulders unintentionally reacted to how angry the sound felt in the air even minutes after he’d left.

Phillip sighed and pushed off the wall. “Now that we’ve handled that, I need a list of known families in the area.” The way he called Nigel “that”sat in my throat like liquid fire. “Someone knows why we’re seeing a sudden surge in this area, and they know V well enough to follow her every move.”

I was lost to my silent disdain for the Austrian and his dismissive attitude towards Nigel before what he said registered all the way. “What?”