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Jameson grabs my arm and yanks me forward. “Where is the recording going?”

“W-what?”

“Is it saving to a device on your person, or is it sending the signal elsewhere?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

He shakes the purse in my face. “Don’t lie to me. You were wearing a camera. Either it’s a Bluetooth device that’s sending the data to your phone or another device you have hidden on your body, or it’s connected to the internet.” His grasp tightens painfully on my arm. “ Which is it? ”

“M-my phone,” I stammer, not having to fake the terrified tears that begin to build in my eyes, desperate for him to believe the lie. “It was sending it to an app on my phone.”

He releases me with a shove and then yanks the phone from his pocket. He only fumbles with it for a few seconds before he removes the SIM card and crushes it under the heel of his shoe. Then he sets the phone on the table, picks up a massive candlestick, and starts pummeling it.

My eyes cut to the door, my exit. Can I reach it while he’s distracted? I could use a hair pin on him, but I’d have to get close, and right now, I’m worried he’ll use that candlestick on me before I can stab him.

Noah should be here—he said he’d be here. Thanks to the tracking app on my GPS, he knows where I’m at. Or at least he did a few seconds ago. My avatar is probably grayed out now, the connection lost.

What am I going to do? I can’t wait for him. Jameson is angry enough he’ll kill me as soon as he’s satisfied he’s destroyed the data on my phone.

I pull a hair pin from my hair, holding the base of it in my hand. I can do it. He’s only a few steps away.

But my feet aren’t obeying my command. They’re frozen in place, refusing to move.

Sensing the change in my stance, Jameson turns. His eyes fall on the hair pin before I can hide it, and his eyes flash.

My feet move this time—several steps back.

I drop the hair pin and hold up my hands, showing him that I’m unarmed.

“You want to prove I’m a monster?” He stalks forward, his expression slightly unhinged. “You want to see what kind of monster I can be?”

He holds the candlestick like a baseball bat. I sense the moment he’s going to swing it and barely manage to duck, trying to run past him. He drops his makeshift weapon and grabs my arm, roughly yanking me into his chest.

There’s a commotion outside the door, followed by a crash that sounds like metal banging against metal.

Noah .

My spirits bolstered, I scream and fight, but Jameson is stronger than I am. With his free hand, he roughly grabs my head and forces it to the side, exposing my neck.

But I’m not allowing it, not again.

I rip an arm free and gouge the vampire in the eyes, just as Noah taught me.

Jameson yowls and stumbles back. While he’s bent over, I pull another hair pin from my hair and jab it into his arm.

He screams, jerking away.

The door bursts open just as Jameson falls on the floor. Fighting the sedative, his movements are growing slow.

Noah barrels into the room, gun trained on the twitching vampire. Then he looks at me, his eyes wide. “You did it.”

I don’t know if it’s the sheer, unadulterated shock on Noah’s face or the relief that I’m still alive, but I sink onto the floor and laugh.

But quickly, my laughter turns into tears. Noah pulls me up and into his arms as several NIHA hunters swarm into the room and surround Jameson.

“Piper, you did so well.”

“You got the recording?”

“All of it. Daniel had it going straight to a computer in the intel room.”

“The castle has an intel room?” I ask stupidly. “Tomas didn’t mention it.”

Noah laughs, his face crinkling with belated worry. “Yeah.”

Blinking back tears, I look at the hunters as they pull Jameson off the floor and cuff him. “I thought you couldn’t do anything to him right now?”

“The committee gave us approval to take him into custody. Thankfully, all the heads of the lines are gathered. They’ll take a vote later and decide his fate. I assure you, it won’t be favorable.”

I sink against Noah.

“You did so well,” he says again, hugging me fiercely. “Are you thinking of a career change? Do you want to be a hunter now?”

“Never,” I breathe, laughing. “You’re on your own from now on. Take me to my garden. I’m done.”

He chuckles. “We have to get through the nominations first.”

I look back at him, nervous. “What about Gerald?”

“He’s already in custody.”

“And Larissa?”

“She’s still missing, but the Miami hunters are looking for her. They’ll catch her. It’s going to be difficult for her to disappear when all her contacts have been apprehended.”

I take a deep breath and step out of his arms, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

He studies me, his expression soft. “I’m good now.”

My eyes fill with relieved tears again, but I smile past them. “I’m so relieved this is over. It is over, right?”

“It’s over.”

“Can I take a nap now?”

Noah laughs. “Yes, you can take a nap.”