LOGIN“Are you sure you want to do this?”Irene looked at Dorian, who had asked her the same question twice since they left the estate.“Yes. And I'm starting to think you're hoping I'll change my mind.”“I wouldn't object if you did.”“Well, sorry to disappoint you.”Dorian glanced out the tinted window at the convenience store across the street.They had been parked there for almost five minutes. Irene was sitting in the back of a large black SUV with Dorian beside her, while four security personnel occupied the front and middle seats. Two more vehicles had accompanied them from the estate, which seemed excessive for someone whose biggest responsibility tonight was checking expiration dates on sandwiches.Then again, the last time she'd worked here, a vampire had walked in and called her livestock.So perhaps Ares had a point.“I understand wanting some normalcy after everything that's happened,” Dorian said. “But Lord Valcieri has made it clear that you don't need to work. Any financial
“You look better than I thought you would.”Irene looked up from the menu. “Thanks. You look exactly how I thought you would.”Blythe pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.They were at their old burger place, the one they used to visit whenever they had a little extra money after payday. The last time they'd eaten here was sometime last year, when Blythe had gotten a small bonus and insisted on buying Irene dinner.The place hadn't changed much. Same red booths, same slightly sticky tables, and the same menu with pictures of burgers that never looked quite that good when they arrived.Irene had missed it.Blythe set her bag beside her chair and studied Irene for a moment.“Can I hug you first?”Irene put the menu down, and Blythe came around the table and hugged her tightly enough that Irene had to shift in her seat.“Jesus, Irene,” she whispered. “I was so worried about you.”Irene wrapped her arms around her friend. “I'm sorry.”Blythe held her for another moment before
“I want to go alone. If that’s okay…”Ares looked up from across the breakfast table.“I need to talk to them without you sitting there looking like Lord Valcieri.”He smiled, but he let it go. A car would take her, security would stay outside the facility, and Irene decided those were reasonable enough compromises.By early afternoon, she was walking through the treatment center toward the visitor garden behind the main building.Amanda was already waiting, and the moment she saw Irene, she stood quickly.“Irene.”She crossed the garden and pulled Irene into a hug. And for several seconds, she simply held on. Then she pulled back and looked Irene over, touching her face and her arms, checking whatever she could see.“Are you hurt? I saw your building on the news, Irene. There was blood everywhere. They kept saying people were dead, and then I couldn’t get hold of you.”“I know. I left my phone behind when I got out.”“You could’ve called from someone else’s.” Amanda pressed her lips
“You look alive again.”Ares looked up from his glass. “That is an interesting compliment.”Irene stopped beside the breakfast table and took a proper look at him.Yesterday, he had looked like somebody had drained most of the color out of him. This morning his hair was silver again instead of nearly white, his skin had returned to its usual pale shade, and there was color in his lips. His eyes were normal too, still unnaturally light, but no longer that cold, washed-out blue from yesterday.“Okay,” she said. “You look undead again.”He smiled briefly. “Thank you.”The glass in front of him held something dark red.Irene nodded toward the glass. “So you fed last night?”“I did. You were very bossy about it.”“You needed bossing.”Ares’s mouth curved. “I’m beginning to think that may be one of my weaknesses.”Irene pulled out the chair across from him. “Being told what to do?”“By you.”Irene sat across from him and gave him a look.Breakfast was already waiting for her, and there was
“Okay. Your nightmare vacation is officially over.”The second Irene reached her room, she went straight to Mr. Mustard’s tank.Ares came in behind her while Irene carefully reached into her pocket and pulled out Mr. Mustard.Somehow, the turtle had survived her apartment getting attacked, being carried through the woods on the back of a giant wolf, two days at Kael’s lodge, several miles underground, and a motel.Mr. Mustard looked exactly as impressed by all of that as he usually looked by everything.“Don’t give me that face. I had a worse time.”She lowered him into his tank.For the first time since she had climbed onto Kael’s back, Irene felt one small part of her life return to where it belonged.Mr. Mustard immediately started moving around his familiar space.“There you go.”Ares stood beside her, watching him. “He appears unchanged.”“Oh, well, he’s a turtle.”Irene watched Mr. Mustard for another moment before straightening. “I think he handled all of this better than I did
“Those are his cars.”Three black vehicles waited in an empty industrial lot ahead, their headlights throwing long white beams across the pavement. Six men stood beside them in dark trench coats, two to each car, armed and very obviously not there for decoration.Irene looked past them at the warehouses surrounding the lot. Most were dark for the evening, their loading bays empty and chain-link fences throwing crooked shadows across the ground.“Where’s Ares?” she said.Rowe glanced through the windshield. “He’s probably in one of those cars. Waiting.”He told the driver to pull directly in front of the waiting cars.Irene sat back and watched them get closer.She had spent most of the drive telling herself that seeing Ares again was just another problem she needed to deal with. She would explain what happened, call her family, figure out what remained of her apartment, and hopefully find out whether she still had her jobs.Their car stopped and Rowe got out first, and Irene followed







