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“I like your hips. They’re wide and will no doubt help produce many sons,” the Kurjan across the narrow table from her said.

Lyrica sat back and shook her head. How in the world did she end up caught in her own trap? While she had thought it hilarious that both Hunter and Vero had to attend the speed dating event, she hadn’t once considered that they’d have one entrant too many and that she would have to fill in. “Gee, that’s really nice of you, Jonathan.”

Jonathan smiled widely. Like most of the Kurjans, his pale skin had darkened slightly, and his face looked brutally carved. His eyes were a mellow purple and his dark hair was gathered at his nape. The red tips seemed to have faded, and she wondered if the Sunshine Cu re caused that.

“I think females would prefer to hear a different sort of compliment,” she m urmured slowly.

Jonathan’s lighter brows drew down. “Really? Isn’t that the greate st compliment?”

Oh, man. It was going to take her forever to bring these guys into the current century. “No.”

“I see.” Jonathan looked her up and down. “Well, that’s a pretty yellow dress y ou’re wearing.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. He was kind of getting it. The luxurious silk with a few sequins dotted throughout seemed a little old-fashioned, but truth be told, she felt pretty in it. She liked the way the waist nipped in and then flared. “Ho w old are you?”

“I’m about one hundred and fifty years old, so pretty young,” he said, nodding. “I like this idea of speed dating. We’ve never done any thing like it.”

She leaned forward and tried to ignore the fact that Vero sat only a few tables down. This close to him, she could feel his heat. Somehow. The guy burned like an inferno. “You’re being a good sp ort, Jonathan.”

Jonathan cleared his throat and looked around as if searching for something to say. “Um, you decorated t his place, no?”

“Yes.” She had decorated the main room in the lodge with streamers and balloons they’d ordered in, hoping to add a festive vibe to the winter evening. A full bar sat in the corner with every type of alcohol and soda available. She had found that Kurjans enjoyed Guinness beer, so she made sure to have plenty of it on hand. Then she’d had her assistants slice tables into small two-tops scattered a round the room.

“It’s pretty. You did a good job making the place, uh, lighthearted.” He glanced toward a pretty blonde at the next table, his chin lifting. “I hope the females fee l comfortable.”

It had surprised her how many of the kidnapped females wanted to participate, and she knew full well that Paxton had had to order many of the immortals to join in. Besides the several Kurjans, she recognized a few vampires and demons. Vero was currently chatting with a young woman named Louise from Buffalo. Well, it’d be more accurate to say that Louise chattered on and Vero sat there with his arms crossed. Lyrica cut him a glare. He could at least try. He stared back, his blue eyes so dark they appeared nearly black. Dead and unfeeling. Even so, he unf olded his arms.

Jonathan looked down at his green long-sleeved shirt and jeans. “I have to tell you, I like dressing casually. It’s enjoyable wearing clothing that is not a uniform.”

The Kurjan nation seemed rat her regimented.

“I’m glad you’re liking it,” she said, “and speed d ating as well.”

He shrugged. “Back in my day, we’d just go ask a father’s permission to take a mate, and we still gave dowries. This is a whole new world. I guess.” He looked around. “We still have kidnapped females everywhere, but that was n ever my thing.”

“I’m glad to hear t hat,” she said.

He leaned forward. “It’d be fun if you could get a few feline shifters to join in someday. I know I’m meant for a human, but still, I wouldn’t mind trying to co urt a lioness.”

Lyrica frowned. “How do you know you were mean t for a human?”

“I’m one of our best soldiers, the strongest—it’s true.” A deep red flush started at his collarbone and washed up over his face. “I was injured badly as a child. Fell off a horse and the rotten animal kicked m e in the head.”

What in the world? “What does that mean? You sustained brain damage?” His amethyst eyes appear ed intelligent.

“Yes.” His voice lowered to a hush. “My IQ is probably only around two hundred. Not nearly high enough for a shifter. So it’s a hu man I’ll mate.”

“Hey,” she protested.

He ticked his head to th e side. “What?”

“Are you saying that hu mans are dumb?”

He sat back as if realizing the impact of his words. “No. Just not as smart as shifters or most Kurjans.”

How insulting. “You don’t know that.” She glanced toward Vero to see him focusing intently on Louise. Her stomach clenched. Hard. She drew in air. That was good. She wanted Louise to find somebody, if that’s what she wished. Although why anybody would want the grumpy, ice-cold enforcer was beyond her. Sure, he was sex personified and had the old wounded-badass-dangerous thing going on, but that could only last for so long. She jolted back to see Jonathan watching her car efully. “What?”

He smiled, showing sparkling white teeth. Apparently, the Kurjans had had more yellowish teeth and fangs in the past, but the injections had brought this interesting side effect. “Vero’s one of the most intelligent Kurj ans ever born.”

She stiffened and couldn’t help her eyebrows risin g. “Seriously?”

Jonathan nodded. “Yes. He had much to do with advancing our cure against the sun. He has the mind of a scientist. A great one. Not his soul, though.”

Lyrica’s heartbeat picked up. For absolutely no reason. “What a bout his soul?”

“That one? He has the soul of a warrior. A killer, really.” Sympathy, soft and real, tinged Jonathan’s tone. “I’ve watched him fight his dual nature for years, until finally t he killer won.”

She held her breath, wanting more information. Oh, she shouldn’t. But she’d been fascinated with Vero from the second she’d arrived in the other camp, just after having been kidnapped. That first day, their eyes had met, and she’d felt that ice-cold blue touch her soul. Even more so, any time she saw him interacting with any of the females, he’d been distant but kind. Then he’d helped Paxton defeat the evil leader of the Kurjans before declaring Pax to be the rightful king.

Poor Paxton had grown up not knowing he had Kurjan blood in him. The guy h ad had no clue.

Lyrica swallowed. “Why did the kille r in Vero win?”

“There was no choice. His father died when he was young, so he was raised by his two uncles. Both enjoyed cruelty, and I think he took one beating too many to enjoy science.” Jonathan sighed. “A female, a Kurjan widow, had taken him under her wing. Then a soldier from the Realm kidnapped her, and that’s when Vero stopped working in the laboratories and started living in the fighting rings. Before long, nobody wanted to challenge him.”

It sounded like he’d been alone. Lyrica could relate to that feeling of being orphaned. Her heart stuttered. No. Bad heart. There was no doubt in her mind that Vero was a killer—one who didn’t like her. She cleared her throat. “Then Hunter came along and they b ecame friends?”

“Yeah. Of course, we knew him as Harold. Yet one more betrayal for Vero. I can’t remember the last time I saw him smile. Doubt he remembers how.”

Lyrica had never seen him smile, now that she thought about it. “At least he has hi s brother now.”

Jonathan snorted. “Right. They don’t know each other in the slightest, and most of us believe that Paxton’s loyalty is to the Realm and not the Kurjan nation. Vero’s loyalty is to us. Someday that will be tested, and only one of them will w alk out alive.”

Chills skittered down her spine. “Th at’s not true.”

Jonathan shrugged. “You’ll see. For now—are you involved in the investigation concerning the dead human? We’ve never had an investigation before. Usually, if somebody killed somebody, we knew who it was and dealt with them appropriately.”

“I’m not,” she said.

“You might want to think about it,” Jonathan noted. “The females trust you. If they know anything, the y’ll tell you.”

She guessed that was true.

Tingles slid up her side, and she knew Vero was looking at her. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. She swallowed and forced a bright smile on her face. “So the next female you meet, what are you going to say?”

Jonathan rubbed his smooth, shaven jaw. “I’m going to say that…I don’t know. What am I going to say?”

Lyrica sighed. “Give her a compliment that has nothing to do with hips and bearing sons.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What about eyes? Can I remark upon her eyes?”

“Yes, that ’d be perfect.”

“Excellent. You have stunningly beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. There’s a sweetness to them I can’t desc ribe,” he said.

She sat back and heat filtered into her face. “That’s about perfect.”

“I can do this,” he said. A buzzer rang and he stood. “I enjoyed our chat,” he said formally.

“As did I.” She had purposely set up the evening so the males had to move and not the females. It created a different dynamic than they had grown accustomed to, and she remained determined that they begin to see females as equals. Even human ones with their lower-than-t wo-hundred IQs.

Hunter sat across from her. “Hi, Lyrica,” he said dryly. “Great night.”

“I’m so glad you decided to attend.” She tried not to smile. Even with the implants in his face, he appeared disgruntled. What did he actually look like? She caught the glares of a couple of other Kurjans in the room focused right on him. He didn’t seem to notice. She sighed. “They won’t forgive y ou, will they?”

He lifted powerful shoulders. “Why would they? I lied to them for years. Ever sinc e I was a kid.”

She leaned forward. “It’s surprising to me that the king of the entire Realm sent his own son into the enemy camp as a spy.”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, exactly. No one suspected it. I just showed up, saying that my small group of Kurjans had been in a battle. They took me right in.” He glanced at Vero and then looked back at her. “I understand why some people are pissed. I would be too.” He rubbed his jaw and winced as if in pain.

“Do the implants hu rt?” she asked.

“They are not comfortable,” he noted, “especially as I’ve grown through the years.” There was no doubt Hunter Kayrs had an impressive physique. Incredibly tall and broad, he likely resembled his father, the king of the Realm. She’d heard rumors from Kurjan mates about the king’s strikin g handsomeness.

She couldn’t imagine living with foreign objects in her face. “When are you undergoing the surgery to get all that removed?”

“Soon,” Hunter said. “Apparently, my face just ticks people off, so I wouldn’t mind going back to myself. Although,” he grinned, widening his eyes that swirled an odd purple, “I kind of don’t remember what I looked like bef ore. You know?”

“No.” She couldn’ t even imagine.

He leaned in. “You know most Kurjan soldiers aren’t really looking for mates, right?”

“I do,” she said, “but these females were given a choice whether they wanted to just go free or if they wanted to talk about immortality, so we had to fill the chairs.” To her right, Jonathan laughed across from an accountant from Russia. The woman was named Sasha and she had long blond hair and startling green eyes. She laughed and patted his hand. Lyrica smiled. This may work out after all. Even if she got just one couple to start dating, she’d take i t as a success.

“If you say so.” Hunter shook his head. “I am not going to mate for a long time. Last thing I want to worry about is taking care of somebody else.”

She leaned forward, curious. “What are you looking for in a mate?”

He blinked. “I don’t know, probably somebody like my mom or my aun ts. Brilliant.”

She had heard many things about the Queen of the Realm. The woman was known to be a genius and an obsessed scientist. She wanted to cure every disease out there. It made sense that Hunter would be interested in somebody similar. “You know that what we want in our heads and what we actually get in our hearts is usually dif ferent, right?”

He chuckled. “I have no doubt. I’m sure my dad as the king had a much different idea in mind than a female who is constant ly wearing a lab coat, forcing everyone to give blood samples, and driving herself to exhaustion. But you love who you love.”

“True,” Lyrica said. She wished she could keep Hunter here talking to her. He felt like he could be a good friend. Next, she’d have to d eal with Vero.

Her body flushed at the thought. The buzzer went off much too soon. Hunter patted her hand and stood, looking to f ollow Jonathan.

Vero kicked back the chair and sat, heat rolling off him. “Having a good time?” His voice was m ore of a growl.

“Yes. I hadn’t planned on participating,” she admitted, which probab ly wasn’t fair.

His gaze swept her light-yellow dress and pinned-back hair. “Yo u look lovely.”

She jolted. “Thank you. I like to see you dressed casually.” He wore a long-sleeved black T-shirt and faded jeans with combat boots. His black hair had been swept back from his face and his eyes glittered a dangerous and chilling blue. His face was all planes and angles, and unlike most Kurjans, he looked like he nearly had a tan. Truth be told, he was probably the most handsome male she’d ever seen, which made his chilly attitude all the more unbearable. “Have you fo und your mate?”

He stared at her, not moving an inch. Appearing relaxed and lazy—when she knew he was neither. “No. Have you?”

“No. I’m not here t o find a mate.”

“Neither am I,” he rumbled. “Yet, you seemed to force us all into this.”

Genevieve bustled toward them, delivering two bottles of sparkling water from a tray laden with them. “We opened the new shipment of supplies. Enjoy.” She moved to the next table.

Vero kept Lyrica’s gaze as he twisted open the bottle and took a deep drink. His eyes widened. He held out the bottle and looked at it, then lifted it to his mouth again, drinking half of it down. “This is incredible.”

Lyrica cocked her head. “You’ve never had sp arkling water?”

“No.” He finished the drink . “It’s magic.”

Amusement filtered through her. She glanced over to where Jonathan was waving at Sasha even from a different table. “We might have a love match happen ing right now.”

Vero sighed, looking big and broad across from her, a restless energy vibrating from him. “This is a waste of time. If somebody’s interested in dating, they can go about it themselves. We aren’t humans.”

“I know you’re not humans, but you might want to take a lesson from how we do things. You can’t just kidnap your future mate, ” she spit out.

“Yet we did.” He looked around at all the tables. “All these females are here trying to touch immortality.” The male had a point. Plus, even though the Kurjans were pale and a little too tall, they had a dangerous predatory vibe that m any found sexy.

She could see the draw. Lyrica crossed her arms, feeling vulnerable in the pale dress. She liked to deal with Vero while wearing more clothing. Worse yet, her body hummed with an energy she couldn’t pin down. Her breasts felt heavy beneath the corset, and her heartbeat thrummed between her legs. For him. “Exactly how do you think you’re going to meet your mate? ” she muttered.

He carelessly lifted one powerful shoulder. “I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to mate. But if by some miracle I do, when I see her, I’ll take her.”

She blinked and ignored the fact that her traitorous body wanted him. Perhaps humans were stupid. “That behavior is what we’re trying to unlearn here.”

“Maybe, but my mate will know her place and it’ll be easy.”

She might actually ha ve to hit him.