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Safely back at headquarters before sunrise, Vero leaned against the wall by the door in the small but comfortable gathering room attached to the human female barracks. The comfiness derived from fluffy, light green sofas, luxurious throw blankets, and a crackling fire in a stone fireplace. The window shades remained open, revealing the winding Yukon River and looming snowcapped mountains. A tender light unfurled at the horizon, nudging th e night aside.

He’d allowed Paxton to slap a bandage over the wound in his neck so he didn’t frigh ten the humans.

Paxton had been both pissed and somewhat bewildered that Vero had taken bullets for him. He’d gone off to see his mate but had issued an order that he wanted to speak w ith Vero later.

Vero wasn’t much for talking. He couldn’t believe that somebody had killed one of the enhanced females the night before while he’d been on a mission too far away to stop it. Dr. Fizzlewick, who’d just chosen his surname from a children’s book and insisted upon everyone using it, was currently performing an autopsy and had snarled at everybody to get the hell out of his half-built medical facility. So now Vero stood inside the decidedly feminine space, pushing himself into the shadows away from the ligh ts and windows.

The enhanced females he’d helped rescue sat around, many with throw blankets over their legs, all sipping hot chocolate. These twelve, to be added to the twenty-three already in custody, had huddled together in the rear of the second helicopter on the way to this camp. During the flight, he’d tried to appear reassuring, but they’d all looked terrified. He’d been more than happy to turn them over to the reception team, normally led by Lyrica. It had taken about three hours for him to partially heal the wound in his neck, and he could use a nap. But tha t wasn’t to be.

This morning, Lyrica stood at the front of the room, next to a small desk and a large screen. Today she wore dark jeans and a thick white sweater, looking curvy and delicious, although pale. Finding the body the night before had definitely taken a toll, and he wished he could do something to provide comfort. Instead, he leaned back against the hard wooden wall and cr ossed his arms.

“Okay.” Lyrica clicked a button as the screen filled with a picture of the Earth. “First, I am so sorry that you’ve been kidnapped and I’m glad you all speak English. We’ve run into a language barrier a couple of times.” She sighed. “You’ve all had a nice warm shower, and I’ve reassured you that you’re safe, but I know you’re feeling anything but.”

A couple of the women nodded. Several of them eyed him, and he tried to look as harmless as possible. By the widening of their e yes, he failed.

Lyrica cleared her throat, her brown eyes soft and her voice cultured. “You’ve probably already figured this out, but since you were only kidnapped a few days ago, I’m going to start at the beginning.” She clicked a button and another slide came up, showing a sign advertising the service s of a psychic.

Vero didn’t have time for this.

Lyrica smiled. “Obviously there are humans on this planet, which you already knew. What you didn’t know is there are enhanced humans who have abilities outside of the norm, and you all are included in that category.”

Lyrica continued, “Many enhanced humans are empaths, some are psychics, some practice telekinesis. Some are very good with animals. Some have the touch when it comes to plants. There are many enhancements. Nobody knows why certain people have these enhancements. We might be a different species altogether or just cousins to the witches or—we really don’t know. But the key is, enhanced females can mate w ith immortals.”

A redhead with bright green eyes turned to eye Vero head to toe. He almost felt like blushing.

Lyrica pointed to the screen. “There are immortals among us. First, there are Kurjans.” She clicked a button and another slide came up, showing a Kurjan with his fangs extended.

Vero’s jaw almost drop ped. Seriously?

A murmuring set up among the crowd, and a woman turned to stare pointedly at Vero’s mouth. He fought the urge to let hi s fangs extend.

Lyrica pointed at the screen. “These are the people who kidnapped you. They used to be the bad guys. Now they’re aligned with the good guys. Well, some of them. Obviously, the ones who kidnapped you are not good.” She squinted, looking around. “Vero?”

He stepped forward and allowed a board to creak be neath his feet.

She jolted. “ There you are.”

Yeah. He had the ability to blend into backgrounds. Most immortals had otherworldly abilities—even the vampires were known to change the weather or halt their enemies with a wall o f ice-cold air.

Lyrica eyed him. “That’s Vero. He helped to rescue you and is one of the good guys.” The doubt in her voice nearly made him smile. If he remembered how.

A very tall woman with platinum-blond hair looked over her shoulder at Vero, then turned back toward Lyrica. “How do you know they’r e not all bad?”

“We don’t,” Lyrica said simply. “But we’ve signed a treaty and they’re more than willing to let you go.”

The blonde placed her hot chocolate down on the sofa tabl e. “Right now?”

“No,” Lyrica said. “Not quite yet. First, we need to make sure you’re all right. Then there’s an NDA for you to sign. But I’ll get to that.” She clicked the button before anybody could interrupt her. “There are also vampires, demons, shifters, and fairie s alive today.”

“Demons?” a strawberry-blonde from the front asked, her voice trembling. “Like actual dem ons from hell?”

“No.” Lyrica waved a hand in the air. “They’re just another species. They’re all immortal, unlike humans.”

A twenty-something dark-haired girl glanced at Vero and then scooted herself farther away from him on the sofa. “So they can turn us into vampir es or Kurjans?”

“No, no, no,” Lyrica said, shaking her head. “They can’t turn you into anything. Species do not change. If an enhanced female mates with an immortal, she gains immortality by an increase in her chromosomal pairs. But she wouldn’t turn into a vampire, demon, or anything other than a human who’s now immortal. None of the immortals or mates need to drink any blood, so don’t believe vampire stories. Unfortunately, most mates don’t get any extra stre ngth or speed.”

Another blonde piped up, partially raising her hand. “They just live forever?”

“Yeah, unless they’re beheaded,” Lyrica said. “Everybody can die by beheading and by a really intense fire.”

A couple of females looked back at Vero as if they wished they had a sword in their hands right now. T hey both paled.

Lyrica looked at him and sighed. “Vero is a Kurjan, but he’s actually her e to help you.”

Something warmed him throughout. He’d wondered wh at she thought.

“At least, I’m fairly certain,” she said dryly. “Now, back to my little PowerPoint pres entation here.”

Vero shook his head. It was preposterous and frankly a little insulting to think that his people had been reduced to a PowerPoint presentation. He’d never even heard of PowerPoint until Lyrica had insisted on installing it on the few computers currently in the territory. An en tire computer bank and upgraded system should be installed soon, and Vero would be damned before he put PowerPoint on his hard drive.

However, Lyrica seemed right at home and well-settled with the organization of the entire presentation. She did like to be organized, didn’t she? In fact, her bossiness in that area was cute. Very.

A curvy brunette raised her hand from on e of the sofas.

“Yes? ” Lyrica asked.

“Did you say shifter? As in humans who shift into animals, like in the movies?”

Lyrica turned from the screen. “I’ve never seen one, but I’m assured that there are immortals who look human and turn into felines, wolves, bears, and even dragons.” She shrugged. “The dragon part might be myth. I can’t tell.”

The female who’d asked the question shook her head. “This is unreal. So, another question. Why are the Kurjans so pale?” she asked. “I saw one the other day who had a strip of white hair bisecting the scalp and down his back. He was really creepy.”

Lyrica nodded. “Those are the Cyst. They’re the spiritual leaders, and I think the top soldiers for the Kurjan nation. Not many of them stayed when the Kurjans decided to ally with the other species. They’re so pale because until a short time ago, Kurjans and Cysts couldn’t go out in the sun withou t being fried.”

“And now they can?” the platinu m blonde asked.

“Yes,” Lyrica said. “Their scientists came up with a way for them to do so. So now they can go out into the sun anyt ime they want.”

That wasn’t exactly true, but Vero chose not to disabuse her of the notion about the Sunshine Cure. For a time, they’d thought they could genetically enhance embryos in utero but had soon learned that protection only lasted a few years. Then those toddlers required inoculations like the rest of them. Right now, they still had to limit their time in the sun. While better than years before, too much exposure would still kill many of his people. He was able to withstand more sunlight than most and actually enjoyed it. Every minute he spent in the sun darkened his skin just a little bit. He had no doubt someday his people would be able to spend as much time outdoors as the other species.

Ano ther hand rose.

“Yes, Lucy? ” Lyrica asked.

“What if we…I mean, what if we want to be immortal?” Lucy asked quietly.

Lyrica smiled. “That’s definitely an option. And it’s completely up to you. We are going to do some speed dating with the Kurjan soldiers here with anybody who’s interested. If you’re no t, no worries.”

The idea of speed dating also felt like an insult. Vero frowned and the female closest to him moved down her couch as if afraid he’d bite her.

Lyrica watched the movement. Then she looked at him and faltered. Blinked. Shook her head and returned to he r presentation.

So he did affect her.

She cleared her throat. “Also, Kurjan blood usually burns other species, so if you see an injured Kurjan, don’t rush to help.”

“Usually?” anothe r blonde asked.

Lyrica tapped the control against her jeans. “Yes. It appears that true mates to Kurjans aren’t burned by their blood.”

“Blood?” a forty-something brunette asked. “You said that nobody drinks blood. So why do th ey have fangs?”

Lyrica frowned. “Um—”

“We do drink blood,” Vero said quietly. “Any immortal can take the blood of humans or other immortal species without a problem. We only do so if we’re injured, or during sex. We don’t need to drink blood as a food source, and a mate never needs to do so unless she’s injured. Also, Lyrica is correct that Kurjan blood does burn the skin of most other immortals and humans, unless we’re a fated mate.”

Lyrica’s head jerked up, and her gaze met his. She quick ly looked away.

“This is all fascinating, but what if we want to get the hell out of here?” the platinum blonde snapped.

Lyrica nodded. “I completely understand. As soon as we make sure you’re healthy and you sign the NDA, we’ll take you anywhere you want and give you a million dollars. If you want to be somebody other than who you were, we’ll also give you a brand -new identity.”

“And the million bucks?” th e blonde asked.

“Absolutely,” Lyrica said. “Regardless of whether you want to stay or go, you are free to call anybody from your life to let them know you’re all right. But you must come up with a cover story about why you’ll be out of town for a few more days.” She winced. “As well as where you’ve been since y ou were taken.”

Vero nodded. “We want your loved ones, if you have them, not to worry. I believe your kidnappers only took unmarried females wit hout children?”

“Gee, that was nice of them,” the br unette snapped.

Vero didn’t blame her for the sarcasm. “Keep in mind that you’ll sign an NDA agreeing to keep silent about imm ortal species.”

The curvy brunette raised her hand again. “What if we sign the NDA and tell the truth anyway?”

Lyrica sobered. “Well, for one thing, nobody will believe you. So I’d be real careful because you’ll end up in an asylum somewhere. However, I have been told, and I don’t agree with this, that you will be kidnapped again, this time for good.”

“And murdered?” the redhead asked, her voice shaking.

“No, no, not murdered.” Lyrica vigorously shook her head. “Absolutely not. But you will be kept somewhere—in absolute luxury, I’m sure—but not where you want to be. So if you sign that NDA, I certainly woul dn’t break it.”

Vero straightened. “She’s not wrong.” He let authority ride his voice. “You don’t wan t to cross us.”

Lyrica’s eyes widened and her jaw tightened. “I don’t need he lp here, Vero.”

“Apparently you do.” A couple of the females didn’t look nearly alarmed enough. “We’re happy to give you money and freedom, but you will sign the NDA and you will adhere to your promise,” he said curtly. They needed to grasp the seriousness of his people’s commitment to concealing their existen ce from humans.

The platinum blonde threw her hands up. “Why? I mean, this is ridiculous. Why don’t you want anybody to know you exist? Why not coexist with t he rest of us?”

Vero stared at her until she paled and then he spoke. “If humans discovered we have immortality, they’d do anything to get it, wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t you?”

Slowly the blonde gul ped and nodded.

“Exactly. There’s no way to get it without mating us. And if you’re just human and not enhanced, it can’t happen. But you’d still try, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” the blonde said, her v oice trembling.

Vero chose not to gentle his voice. Not about this. “So then we’d be at war with the humans. Who do you think w ould win that?”

She licked her lips nervously. “Probably you.”

“Exactly. If we took out the human race, we wouldn’t have enhanced humans to mate through the coming eons. Since Kurjans are male only, same with vampires, us wiping out so many potential female mates is an u ntenable idea.”

Lyrica’s eyes sp it fury at him.

He shrugged. “They need to k now the truth.”

She snapped her teeth together. “All right, now they understand the truth. Just so you also know, ladies, this very handsome, hunky, sweet soldier who’s telling you like it is will be one of the eligible immortal bachelors attending the speed dating event tonight. Won’ t that be fun?”