“There's one thing you haven't made real clear just yet.” Kade lingered at the window, peering out through the slit between curtains. “Don't get me wrong, I think you all got a real solid idea worked out. But how am I supposed to get in by myself?”

  “You're not,” someone said from the door.

  Felicity almost jumped out of her skin, and a sharp curse from Kade indicated he shared the sentiment.

  Grant leaned against the doorframe and flashed Kade a wicked grin. “Sounds like me and you are officially partners.”

  Chapter Twenty

  All the rage Kade had tried and failed to contain while searching for Felicity surged to the surface again. He spun from the window and in the next instant, he grabbed Grant by the throat and slammed him against the wall. The one-time cowboy grunted at the force, but his hand snapped up with a pistol ready. He jammed it against the side of Kade's head, defiance and challenge blazing in his eyes.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cole grabbed Kade's arm at the same time Justine seized Grant's. The two of them pulled in unison, prying the sudden skirmish apart.

  “Kade,” Felicity gasped as she caught his other arm. He wanted to glare at Grant, maybe even go after him again, but Justine had put herself between them and Grant had already holstered his gun.

  The gun he hadn't fired, Kade grudgingly acknowledged. He could have fired at any time. Instead, he'd made his presence known, given all of them a fair warning. If he'd wanted to shoot, he already would have. A bitter curse leaped to Kade's tongue, but he caught the worry in Felicity's warm-honey eyes and swallowed it instead.

  Cole gave him a shake. “What the hell was that, Colton?”

  “He's contracted to hunt me,” Kade growled.

  “So am I, remember?” A shadow of something lurked in Cole's expression. Concern? That didn't make sense. Cole had no reason to worry about Grant. Or was it Grant he was worried about? A sense of fear and intimidation flowed through Kade's connection with Felicity, muddying his thoughts.

  Kade's anger faltered and he pushed a thought toward her. What did I do?

  Her eyes widened and he found himself biting back a curse again. He hadn't mentioned his short practice session with Thaddeus, or the book tucked in his bag that explained telepathic methods in greater detail.

  She faltered a moment—or at least, her thoughts did—before she thought back at him in the form of a picture, not words.

  Him beside the window one moment, then seemingly appearing out of nothing right in front of Grant, tendrils of smoke-like mist curled around his borrowed black suit.

  Kade squeezed his eyes shut and made himself exhale. They'd seen Drake du Coudray do that. He should have realized it was something he could have inherited.

  “Speaking of Kade's contract,” Justine intoned, “I'm pretty sure at this point that it shouldn't say suspected level five.”

  “Gonna have to agree with that,” Cole said. He released Kade's arm, but his face had shifted to something unreadable. His hunter's mask. The sight put dread in the pit of Kade's stomach.

  From the way Felicity straightened beside him, it seemed she was already adjusting her perception of him, taking the new development in stride. “Is there anything else a level five vampire can do that we ought to know about?”

  Justine shrugged. “The textbooks only speculate. If he suddenly turns into a bat or something, we might have to move him up the rungs a bit more.”

  Behind her, Grant snorted. “I can't tell if that's supposed to be a joke or not.”

  “Unlike Thaddeus, she does have a sense of humor.” Cole crept back to the bed, where Emma sat with a contemplative expression that somehow made Kade more nervous than anything else. She was mortal like Felicity, yet somehow worse off, lacking the quiet confidence—and skill with a gun—Felicity boasted. What could make her eye him like that?

  “Unfortunately for you, I'm not joking. I've never seen it, but it's in the books, so I know it's possible.” Justine studied Kade for so long, he found himself staring back with his jaw set.

  “Guess a bat would be harder to shoot,” Grant muttered.

  Felicity huffed. “If everything goes right, there should be no shooting. Were you eavesdropping long enough to hear the whole plan, or do we need to fill you in?”

  Grant raised his hands, palms out, in a gesture that was either surrender or a sign for her to settle, Kade wasn't sure which. “I caught the tail end. Birch gave me my own directions and that's all I need for right now. Colton can fill me in while we're on the road.”

  Kade had no desire to fill him in on anything, but he wanted information, so he'd have to surrender some, too. “Fine. Care to share those directions with everybody first?”

  A hint of displeasure pinched the corners of Grant's eyes. “He wants me to play bodyguard. We haven't been working together long enough for anyone out there to know me just yet. He's going stag. Tonight, I'm your hunter.”

  Kade snorted. “Justine, you wanna trade?”

  “Fat chance.”

  “Worth a shot,” he grumbled.

  “Listen,” Grant said, leveling his first two fingers at Kade's chest, a gesture uncomfortably reminiscent of the gun at his hip. “I don't wanna work with you any more than you wanna work with me. I would much rather let you run in there and get shot and then torn apart by a hundred vampires in a frenzy. But my life ain't mine anymore, is it? Just like yours. I belong to the organization, and I got told what to do.”

  Felicity took a half step forward. “Kade stopped belonging to the Keepers the moment he retired.”

  “I wish that was the case, honey,” Justine said, giving her head a sad shake. “Vampires—all of us, Enforcers or otherwise—are nothing more than game pieces to the Keepers' council. There's a reason it has to stay so balanced.”

  “Somebody's gotta stay balanced,” Cole muttered under his breath.

  Kade shot him a dirty look.

  “All right, kids, that's enough bickering,” Josh announced as he rounded the corner into the room. “Everyone quiet down and get tucked in for bed. We've only got a few hours left before we have to get on the road.”

  Every face in the room turned sullen.

  Josh went on as if he didn't notice. “Since everyone's already in here, we'll go ahead and go over seating arrangements. Cole and Justine, after Emma gets everyone dressed up, you're dropping her off back in the land of the living, right?”

  “Correct,” Cole said, rubbing his wife's knee. From the way she laced her fingers with his and gripped his hand, she didn't like that idea.

  The young Keeper nodded. “All right. Felicity, you'll be with us. Better to have you ride over with me and Julian, just in case.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kade interjected. He could already see where this was going.

  “That means our newest Keeper and his hunter are left.” Josh offered a grim smile.

  Kade clamped his jaw hard to keep from loosing profanity.

  “Thaddeus should get there before us, so everyone make sure you avoid him when we arrive,” Josh finished. “Any questions?”

  “Yeah.” Justine crossed her arms. “Who digs a hole for whichever one of these two ends up dead before they reach the destination?”

  “Funny,” Grant said.

  Somehow, Kade didn't think it was a joke.

  A dim glow above the trees caught Felicity's eye. She stared at it as they wound their way up the hillside, not knowing if she wanted it to grow dimmer or brighter.

  Every inch they moved took them closer to a resolution, one way or another. If only she had some guarantee it would be a happy ending.

  “You doing okay?” Josh asked from the driver's seat. She couldn't see him in the rear view mirror, but she caught the tilt of his head that indicated he was looking her way.

  She sat in the middle row of the luxury SUV. Julian lounged on the back seat behind her, though she wasn't sure if he slept. Part of her wasn't sure he ever slept. Every time she'd seen him, he struck her as a predatory animal stuck in a man's body. There was a cold, hard calculation in his eyes, and a tension in his shoulders that never left. With that in mind, she supposed he made a good hunter.

  “I'm fine,” she said at last. It was far from the truth, and she suspected Josh knew it. Emma had done her hair and makeup and dressed her to the nines. Where the clothing had come from, Felicity didn't know, but she'd long since learned not to ask questions when Keepers were involved. Her champagne satin dress was flattering and emphasized the presence of her unborn child instead of hiding it, but it was knee length, and the shapewear she wore underneath preserved both modesty and mobility. When the time came to act, fancy as it was, the finery would not hinder her.

  “Good,” Josh said. “We're almost there.”

  “Jones and Richter are behind us,” Julian remarked from the back seat.

  Felicity blinked at him over her shoulder. “How can you tell?”

  He didn't reply.

  “Julian just knows things sometimes,” Josh said, though the small laugh that accompanied his words seemed strained.

  Before she could decide if she was supposed to respond, he glanced at her reflection again.

  “Guns ready?” he asked, and she wasn't sure if the question was for her or for Julian.

  When Julian didn't say anything, Felicity swallowed and nodded. “Ready.”

  “Better chamber one now,” Julian said, his tone as dry as her throat.

  Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth when she tried to speak again. “I know how to handle guns.”

  “Nobody would expect anything else,” Julian replied.

  Felicity blinked at him over her shoulder. “What does that mean?”

  “We know who your husband is,” Josh supplied. A hint of breeziness had come back into his words. “He was legendary among the Enforcers and Keepers both when Julian and I turned. If you didn't know your way around a firearm when you met, there's no way to avoid being trigger-friendly now.”

  Legendary. She puzzled over that word as she slipped one of her guns from its thigh holster and pulled back the slide. The sound was simultaneously satisfying and frightening. “Is that why so many of you signed up to hunt him? Because of his reputation?”

  “Because of the money,” Julian replied without hesitation. “His reputation is what makes the job terrifying. The Keepers knew that when they issued his bounty.”

  “At least people will be afraid of him,” she muttered as she reached for her other gun.

  “When they recognize him,” Josh agreed.

  They turned into a narrow but smoothly-paved lane between the trees. Tall stone pillars held a gate that stood wide-open, but the fencing that ran through the trees was all but invisible in the dark. It was not late, but the sun had long since set.

  Behind them, the headlights of Cole's SUV swung onto the lane as well, a steady, reassuring beacon. For a moment, she understood why Kade had allowed that friendship to blossom, even if it went against conventions held by other hunters. Just knowing Cole was back there, that he was ready to offer his unwavering support, made Felicity feel a little stronger.

  “Get ready, Jul,” Josh ordered quietly.

  A soft grunt emanated from the back seat. Whether Julian did anything to prepare for what was to come, Felicity didn't know.

  The narrow lane wound on, crawling up a hill and twisting between trees, until the first lamppost appeared just ahead. They were few and far between at first, then closer together and more regular, until finally, the trees parted and they emerged into a vast clearing where a striking mansion rose from the hillside.

  Warm lights made the place glow inside and out, and Felicity rubbed her arms to ward off a shudder. It reminded her of Drake du Coudray's mansion in more ways than one, and like du Coudray's mansion, heading into it meant risking life and limb.

  “Lotta people here.” A note of reverence touched Julian's voice. Dozens of matching black luxury vehicles lined the lane ahead. Some sat off the lane, parked in the grass.

  “Lotta people to kill if things go south.” Josh leaned forward to look up at the mansion. “They had valets last year. Looks like they have them this time, too.”

  “Doesn't bode well if we need to make a getaway,” Felicity said, though at the same time, she prayed it wouldn't come to that.

  “Then we better make this clean.” Josh flashed her a grin. “Here we go.”

  They pulled up in front of the front doors, where a pair of men waited in deep scarlet livery that resembled an old fashioned bellhop's uniform. Both turned toward the SUV. They waited until Josh opened his door, then descended the stairs and crossed the path.

  “Allow me, sir,” one said as he pulled the door open wider. The other found his way to Felicity's door.

  He opened it and blinked. “Is she...?”

  “Human, yes,” Josh said as he straightened his tie and rounded the SUV to offer her his hand. “And if you knew who she was, you'd be very, very careful around her.”

  Felicity ducked her head as a flush rose into her cheeks. She rested one hand on her gravid belly and the other on Josh's palm as she slid out of the vehicle. Her blush was not at all put on, but she did her best to look cowed, like fear was all that kept her cooperating.

  “It doesn't make a difference,” Julian said as he followed, so close on her heels that his presence made her uncomfortable. “Even Colton can't get her here.”

  The valet's eyebrows climbed his forehead and he cast an alarmed look toward his companion.

  Josh flashed them a toothy grin. “Relax. There have to be a hundred Keepers here, never mind their Enforcers. He'd never try.”

  Felicity wondered briefly how the valets might know her husband's name, but dismissed the question as soon as it arrived. Of course they would know. If his bounty—some ambiguous number she still hadn't heard—was anything like everyone claimed, his name had to be on the lips of every vampire in the country. Maybe some from outside the country. Kade had traveled North America often enough in pursuit of his quarry. That Enforcers could have come from other countries hadn't crossed her mind, but there was no reason to think they hadn't.

  The valet didn't seem reassured. “Sir, you're not supposed to, ah...”

  “Allow humans?” Josh finished for him. “Come on, do you really think it would be smart to leave her unattended somewhere? I'm sure we can all agree an exception can be made.”

  Though the valet winced, he nodded and closed the car door. “Your keys, sir?”

  “Oh, right.” Josh patted his pockets in search of where he'd absentmindedly stuck them. When one jingled, he pulled the keys free and tossed them over the roof of the SUV to the valet on the other side. Then the man beside them motioned toward the mansion, and the three of them started up the smooth stone walkway as Cole parked behind them and their escort went to greet him instead.

  “No humans allowed?” Felicity asked in a whisper.

  “Told you that you'd be the only one,” Josh replied. He moved her hand to his elbow and escorted her up the stairs. Climbing them was harder than she wanted to admit and she found herself grateful for his support. Julian skulked along behind them, still giving her chills.

  When they reached the large doors, he slipped ahead and opened one. As Josh led her across the threshold, she couldn't help but wonder who owned the mansion—and when Josh and Julian had been invited in. She'd wondered briefly at the way everyone entered Thaddeus's cabin unimpeded, too, but they'd been directed to meet there. Perhaps that counted as the invitation the vampires needed.

  Just inside the door, another liveried attendant met them, this one female. “Hats? A purse, ma'am?” She offered Felicity a fanged smile.

  Josh waved her away. “No, thank you.”

  Felicity held his arm a little tighter, desperately wishing it was Kade she was holding onto instead.

  “Don't be nervous.” Josh patted her hand, though he didn't look her way. “You'll be the star of the evening.”

  Which was one of the things she was afraid of. How was she supposed to find her target if they were swarmed by vampires wanting to ogle Julian's supposed prized piece of bait? She hardly knew how she was supposed to find Adelaide to begin with. Nobody in their mission group had met the woman. Only Thaddeus had any idea what she looked like, and he'd had no photographs to share. A verbal description was the only lead they had.

  They moved through the entry hall in silence. Though the mansion had reminded her of du Coudray's place from the outside, the inside couldn't have been more different. It was something like a palace, the open entryway scaling three stories before a chandelier capped the high ceiling. The doors were heavy wood with ornate brass handles, and from the exquisite old-fashioned furniture that turned the far end of the entryway into a sitting room, she suspected Thaddeus would have been quite at home.

  The double doors at the far end were closed, but music and voices flowed out to greet them even before Julian opened the rightmost door a crack. Felicity craned her neck to see past him, but he pulled the door open wide and motioned them through once again.

  Beyond the doors sprawled an expansive event hall, its polished white marble floor gleaming in the bold light. Dozens of mirrored chandeliers chased every shadow out of the room. Tables filled one end of the hall, while the other remained open, and couples spun on the floor or stood in clusters to talk while a live orchestra played. Every bit of décor was stark white, and every person present—every vampire present, she corrected herself—wore black or red, in a striking contrast to the room.

  “I'm wearing the wrong color,” she whispered as Julian let the door fall closed behind them. She hadn't thought anything of his black suit, or the red tie Emma had paired with it. Now she was unsure. Had the vampires discussed the color theme? Had Emma been unable to find anything that would fit her pregnant belly?

  “Are you?” Josh asked with an amused smile. “You're not one of us. Why would you blend in?”

  So it had been deliberate? Felicity fought back a groan, wishing she'd been consulted. If nothing else, she would have liked to know sooner.

 

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