“Aiden, while that was…nice, and thank you for threatening that guy…but—.”

“I know you’re not ready to be with me yet. But I don’t apologize for what just happened. I love you, Gwen and I’ll never stop craving you.”

“As long as you don’t get the wrong impression... Just because we made out a little doesn’t mean we’re getting back together. Things are fragile right now and while I’m still physically attracted to you, nothing more can come of it.” I mentally groaned at how cold and technical my words sounded. “I do love you, Aiden, and the Goddess knows I’m attracted to you. It’s just…”

“Dorian?” Aiden supplied.

“What? No.” Dorian hadn’t even entered my mind while I was being seduced by Aiden. “There’s nothing going on with us. I think it’s smart if I take a break from relationships for a while.”

Aiden frowned. “Everyone makes mistakes, Gwen. Don’t allow mine ruin your outlook on love.”

Disbelief fell over my face. “Are you saying you want me to be with Dorian?”

“Fuck no,” Aiden growled. “I only meant, don’t let what I did ruin what we could have. Screw Dorian. On second thought…don’t.”

* * *

When Lauren told me that the VC was waiting to meet me at Vain, I hadn’t expected all of them to show up. Six pairs of steely eyes landed on my face when I entered the private room in the back of the club. Aaron, the voice of the group, stood and met me in the center of the room. He might have looked like a teenager, but there was nothing naïve about him. His brown eyes held knowledge while his face deceived the world. The Vampire Council was made up of the original vampire family, the first humans to be turned by the demon Nufesum. And their appearance in Flora wasn’t just a friendly meet and greet. I had struck a deal with them while in Moon and the payment for their help was my blood. I knew it was only a matter of time before they came to collect, but I hoped it would be in the distant future.

“So nice to see you again, Ms. Sparks,” Aaron La’rue smiled, clasping my hand and bending at the waist to place a kiss on top. I was sure all of them could hear my heartbeat speed up; I could almost feel the rapid thump against chest.

“And you,” I said through tight lips. My eyes circled around the room and landed on the other five vampires. Alana sat on the edge of the suede sofa, her lengthy legs crossed and a satisfied smile on her face. Her long blond hair was neatly pinned up while tendrils escaped and brushed her shoulders. Pernis, Ian’s sire, sat next to Alana. He was tall and lanky with slicked back brown hair and a no nonsense attitude. He wore a three piece suit that looked like it had been constructed in the 1920s.

“Let me introduce you.” Aaron still held my hand, and as he walked further into the room I had no choice but to follow. Aiden made sure to stay right beside me, his hand on the small of my back. I knew in a room full of elders there wasn’t a damned thing Aiden could do to save me, but I appreciated the illusion of security he offered.

“You’ve met Alana and Pernis.” Aaron gestured toward the two of them. They both smiled, and I tipped my chin down in a shallow nod. “This is Fredrick.” Aaron held out his hand toward a man with reddish brown hair, a thin coating of freckles lining the bridge of his nose. His eyes were brown like Aaron’s but had gold twining through the irises, giving him an almost ethereal look.

“And Mira and Giles,” Aaron continued. My eyes fell on the last two. Mira looked to be the youngest, maybe fourteen when turned. She had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and wide green eyes. Giles, I admit was good looking, with spiky golden hair and blue eyes. There was a cockiness about him that was both off-putting and alluring. I gave both of them a small smile before bringing my attention back to Aaron. I should have said something along the lines of “it’s nice to meet all of you” but that would have been a lie. In no way was I happy to meet the entire Vampire Council or have them travel all the way to Flora to meet me. If they thought my silence was rude they didn’t comment. Out of all of them, Pernis was the one I was most afraid of. I had killed his child, broken a bond with someone he’d had in his life for over eight hundred years. Depending on the vampire, retribution could be extracted should they see fit. Another thought occurred to me, one scarier than allowing six vampires feed from me. Were they here to kill me for killing Ian? In Moon they had offered to help capture Ian, but there was no talk about killing him. Maybe I stepped over the line and they were here to punish me for it. I mentally laughed, more of a stressed out chuckle as I thought about the absurdity of worrying about demonic rogues when the real threat was the VC. I hadn’t been anticipating their role in my survival.

“Please sit.” Aaron held out his hand to an empty chair. “We have much to talk about.” I walked toward the chair and sat while Aaron joined Frederick on the couch. All six vampires were watching me, each with different expressions. Aiden stood beside me, his hands clasped in front of him. I looked up at him briefly before looking back at the VC. The room remained silent except for the echo of music beating against the dark walls. The VC remained motionless; their eyes pinned on my face. I trailed my own eyes over each of their faces, expecting someone to say something, anything. The awkward silence was playing hell on my heart. It jumped and slammed harder against my chest as my anxiety spiked.

“This is your idea of having a lot to talk about?” I finally said. My impatience always outweighed my common sense. Granted I wasn’t trying to make a good impression with the council leaders, but I knew it was dangerous to mouth off to them.

“Apologies,” Aaron said. “We were having a short meeting.”

I looked up at Aiden in confusion and he tapped the side of his head to indicate they were talking mentally amongst themselves. Creepy.

“You remember your promise, I assume?”

“Yes, but it was under the terms of you guys helping me capture Ian.” I shrugged. “Seeing as how handled it myself, I figured the deal was null and void.” I knew for a fact that it wasn’t but you couldn’t blame a girl for trying. There was no way I wanted six pairs of fangs sinking into my body. Again, I should have thought about the consequences before making the deal. The best I could hope for now was that they didn’t inflict pain when they bit me.

“Capture is the key word, Ms. Sparks,” Pernis said. “There was no mention of killing. When you drove that stake into Ian’s heart, you didn’t just kill him, you offended me in the process. As you know Ian was mine to deal with how I see fit. It was not your call to end his life—”

Aaron placed his hand on Pernis’ arm to stop his speech. Pernis’ hard eyes bore into me while his mouth stretched into a thin line.

“What Pernis is saying is that it goes against our rules to kill another’s child. In that aspect you took a piece of his property.”

“You guys do realize why Ian bonded himself to me, right? Why this whole thing happened?” I paused for a moment. “He wanted to turn me into a hybrid so that I could kill each and every one of you. If you’re asking me to feel sorry for ending him, I don’t. I do however apologize for taking a piece of your property, Pernis. But judging from how Ian talked, there was no love lost between the two of you.”

Aiden tensed up beside me. I didn’t have time to think how unusual that was because Pernis shot up off of the sofa and was in my face before I could blink. Hisses echoed around the room. Fangs glistened, capturing what little light was in the room. Aiden was crouched beside me, his hand gripping the edge of the chair tight. I could tell he wanted to rip Pernis away from me but was biding his time. Once he laid a hand on Pernis, the tension would escalate to something deadlier.

“He was mine,” Pernis snapped. “Feelings are beside the point.”

“Pernis,” Aaron warned, standing up. Frederick and Giles joined him. I wasn’t sure if they were getting ready to grab Pernis should he attack or if they simply wanted to join in on the fun of ripping one of my veins open.

Pernis blinked and I could see the veil of his anger falling away. With one last contemptuous look, he stood and took a couple steps back. The entire room took a collective sigh as the tension settled back to normal. Aiden stood back up, portraying a statue of calmness.

“I apologize for my brother’s brash reaction,” Aaron said. “We know why Ian was interested in you. The idea of hybrids has been lingering on the lips of vampires for centuries. It’s a pipe dream, one derived from an insane mind. Ian was not well.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” I added.

“Can we drink her already?” Alana pouted from across the room. “I’m dying to taste Aiden’s pet.” A wicked smile turned her pretty face into something far more sinister. Her fangs peeked out under her full lips and her blue eyes blackened around the edges. I knew from that look that no pleasure would be gained from her bite. And I was okay with that; there was nothing worse than being turned on by your ex’s ex. It was wrong on many levels. I would rather be in pain than be under her arousing control.

“The deal you made with us remains,” Aaron said. “A blood gift is non-returnable.” He smiled at his small joke, but I was having trouble finding the humor.

“Okay,” I said standing up. “I will hold up my end of the deal, but this—” I pointed to my neck—“is a no fang zone. I’ll go to the hospital and have six vials of blood drawn and to you by tomorrow night.”

“What?” Alana shrieked. “I want to sink my fangs into her pretty little neck.” Her whiny voice was grating on my nerves. I tried to channel my magic to my hands but the power was more timid than ever. Losing it was like losing the ability to breathe or blink or sneeze. It was pure instinct for me and the realization that I might not have it for much longer not only caused anxiety but depression.

Aaron turned to look at his dissatisfied sister and then back at me. “That is not the normal procedure. If you’re frightened of us taking too much I can assure you have nothing to be worried about. I take you under my protection.” He glanced at his sister again. She crossed her arms, sitting down with a sneer on her face.