Bruiser reached den bed. Could feel his heat. Was warmer than human. Liked heat. Liked scent. Vibration of purr rumbled through Beast body, soothing. Purrrrrr. Purrrrrr.

Bruiser put hand out for Beast to breathe in scent. Heated scent. All Bruiser. No scent of Bethany. Was pleased Bruiser had not mated with Bethany. Priestess would be hard to kill.

Bruiser fingers touched head. Smoothed pelt. Rubbed ears and under jaw and under tight gorget. Purred. Tilted head so Bruiser could get to tender spots. “You are truly beautiful. In both of your forms. I wonder if you know that? If you know how you make my heart break every time I look at you.”

Bruiser stroked hand along body and Beast rolled over, to lay on back, exposing tummy for rub. Bruiser laughed and leaned over to give good belly rub. Long time later he stood straight and said, “I have to go now, beautiful lady. Or ladies. I’m not sure of the proper term anymore. But I’ll be back.”

He patted tummy and Beast rolled over fast. Caught Bruiser hand in killing teeth. Bruiser stopped like rabbit in field. Beast let go and raised up. Put front legs on Bruiser shoulders. Put face to Bruiser’s, breathing in scent. Breathing in breath. Leaned in and rubbed head and jaw over Bruiser. Scent marking mate. Mine . . .

Beast dropped down and curled into tight ball to sleep.

Bruiser chuffed out breath stinking of fear and desire. “Bloody hell . . .” Bruiser left Del den.

•   •   •

At dusk I woke to find a bowl of hot oatmeal, fixed the way I liked it, with milk and sugar, on the bedside table. A headset and clean clothes were there as well, jeans, belt, undies, and T-shirt folded neatly, a pair of sandals on the floor below them. And the gorget was still on my neck, with the sliver of the Blood Cross hooked in the rings. I touched it, feeling it blister on my skin. I touched my belly and found a knot there, hot and burning. I wasn’t completely healed.

I never want to do that again, I thought to Beast. She panted back at me, her agreement flooding through me. Careful not to touch the sliver of ancient wood, I removed the gorget and dressed, packing the gorget into a pillowcase and tying it to my belt, thinking as I moved.

Peregrinus was dead. The Devil and Batildis were dead, for good this time. The arcenciel was free.

It was over. Or this part was. Now the battle would start, the battle to find and take possession of the iron spike. I didn’t trust anyone but me to have it. And after committing murder with no remorse, I probably shouldn’t trust me either.

I wasn’t far from Leo’s office and I made my way there, seeing the signs of repair and cleanup. In Leo’s office, I closed the doors to the hidden room and the elevator, and made my way down another of Leo’s hidden escape routes, through vamp HQ, and outside the stone gate, a pathway I only half remembered, from what seemed like ages ago.

I stepped into the early night and the outer brick wall closed behind me. The breeze was warm and muggy, a heat wave coming in off the Gulf, bringing more rain and lightning. I could feel the leading edge of the storm approaching, ozone in the air. I keyed my mic on and walked around the block. “This is Yellowrock. I’m outside. How are things inside?”

“Full of spirit and badges, as expected, ma’am,” the Kid said, letting me know he was on-site and running security and that we had lots of company. “Vamp HQ is calm and quiet, ma’am.”

“Cops are with you?”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s a roger. They are here and wish to speak with Ms. Yellowrock when you see her, ma’am.”

“Uh-huh. We’ll talk later.” I tapped the headset to open Eli’s channel. “I’m out front, staying out of sight of the cameras. Your brother has Soul and her human law enforcement officers in the security room.”

“Copy that,” Eli said. “Good to hear you’re alive.”

“It’s good to be alive. I’m in the mood for Mona Lisa’s. Deep-dish pizza.”

“What? No talking to the feds?”

“God, no.”

“Let’s see if I can get out of here and head that way. The Kid can join us at his leisure or when he gets away from Soul, whichever happens first. Maybe we’ll leave leftovers.”

Over my earbud I heard the Kid say, “You are evil, just evil, man.”

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Eli said.

EPILOGUE

Bound by Oaths of Loyalty

It was one week from the day Bruiser had taken me to Arnaud’s. It had been a week of battles, death, and funerals, and I was sleep deprived and sad and . . . close to depressed. I hated being depressed. I’d been depressed once and it sucked.

Yet here I was, sitting in the Clover Grill, staring at the sign reading, DANCING ONLY IN THE AISLES, NOT ON THE TABLES, courting depression.

I had gotten to the diner early to scope out the place and had taken the table farthest in. There were only four so it hadn’t been a hard choice, my back to a wall, facing the door. Waiting. For an hour now. Checking my cell for messages every few minutes. Bruiser was late. Or worse. He wasn’t coming. The place was filling up with lunch customers. I held up a finger to the short-order cook and he nodded, throwing my burger on the grill. Even if I had to eat alone, I was eating. But my heart hurt.

I twirled my beer on the table, making smeared rings. Trying not to think. In the days since the death of Peregrinus and his pals, Bruiser and I had talked a lot, but only on the phone, not in person. We’d both been busy, long hours and long days, me and Wise Ass getting security totally stripped and rebuilt at fanghead central and in Leo’s new house. Getting the new system up and running, and tracking down leads to make sure the city’s vamps were safe. Fixing the electricity problem by disconnecting the wires in sub-five from the rest of the system. Finding Peregrinus’ stuff and taking it. Trying to figure out what some of it was. Bruiser had been doing Onorio things.

Most of our convos had been about Bethany and Leo and Bruiser’s life, which was way more complicated than mine was. He might not be Leo’s primo anymore, but he was bound by oaths of loyalty to the vamps in New Orleans. He wasn’t free to move around the country, not for years. My contracts would be up in a few months or a year—assuming I survived the EuroVamps’ visit and the coming war. I didn’t have plans yet, but staying around New Orleans without work wasn’t in the cards. Bruiser and I had talked around the big question of us, but hadn’t really talked yet. Had settled nothing. Talking didn’t really ever settle anything. It was doing that mattered.