“Although I’d love that, that’s not what I had in mind,” Lukas said with a frown. It made his beautiful amber eyes disappear beneath thick black lashes. His long curly hair fell on his face, and I shook my head at the urge to come closer and remove the strands. I slightly jumped in place and made small circles with my wrists to warm up. I needed to think of something else. “I was hoping we could go out and grab a bite to eat. You didn’t tell me where you lived, so I thought it best to meet here.” Lukas wasn’t dressed to fight. He wore dark-washed jeans over his construction boots and a white t-shirt underneath a black jacket. My heart screamed, “Yes! Yes!” but it took everything from me to force the other words out. “I’m sorry, but I’ve had a rough day today. I would be poor company. I’d prefer to stay here and demolish the punching bag or something.” Lukas looked away when I turned him down. What was wrong with me? Was it too late to say yes? I wanted to pull my hair out. This

I pressed the intercom of the police precinct and waited for the robotic-sounding voice to answer me. When it did, I presented myself and said I had another “skip” for processing, and the person on the other end sent two police officers to take the perp off my hands. I decided to lie low after my completely illegal investigation of the Umbridge case a few days ago, and I had not seen or heard from Lukas in days. The feeling I had was the same as when you give your phone number to some cute guy with a promise of a call, and he never does. It was irritating and humiliating, notably since I had jumped on him and savagely made out with his face. The back door to the precinct opened. As per usual, police officer Dan came down. He always came when he knew I was the one bringing someone in. However, the look he gave me when we met face-to-face sent chills down my spine. If a look could kill, I’d already been dead and buried six feet under. “What crawled up your asshole today?” I muttered t

Jace POV The night was starting very well, and I was happy with the number of customers who came to the opening. This would be an official vampire nightclub, where vampires would go with their pets and have fun or do business in an environment different from the office. Most of the vamps in this city worked for my father, and this club would also serve as a dispenser for the synthetic blood the Harrington and Leigh Corporation were creating—V Blood. Tonight would be the launch of the new product, and the Harrington and Leigh Corporation hoped that by doing this, vampires would stop robbing hospitals or killing humans in attempts to find blood. We needed this to work to keep our anonymity in this city and live peacefully with the humans. “Jace!” I turned at the sound of my name and waved when I saw a few of my father’s right-hand men hailing me from the seats near the dance floor. I made my way to them, hoping they would find satisfactory the hard work I had put into designing this

Lukas POV After the incident between Max and me in the country cabin, I followed her from afar and kept a close watch. I hated myself for letting things escalate too quickly between us. I was a fool for thinking she’d understand and accept who I was. When things got so heated between us, and I felt on the verge of showing my true self, I backed away. If I had listened to myself, I would have marked Max, and she would have become mine forever, but Max deserved the choice, and I had no plans to force that on her without her consent. She was as drawn to me as I was to her, so that had to mean something, but ultimately, the choice would be hers. I’d need to tell her soon before Jace got the upper hand—if he didn’t already. Jace had issues with not getting what he wanted. I didn’t trust him alone with her, which is why I barged in when he brought her inside that meeting room—alone and away from prying eyes. When I saw Max unmoving on the table and the smell of blood, I became half afr

There were apartments above the Chinese restaurant, which I thought were probably similar to my bachelor pad—one room and a bathroom. They couldn’t be much bigger since the building was small. I stopped before a door with 5B on it and knocked. Someone from within yelled to come in, so I opened the door. The entire room was dark except for what was illuminated by at least five monitors. The equipment Vic had seemed expensive, as did her setup. This looked like a hacker’s lair. The windows were painted black to prevent the sun from streaming inside. Vic had also soundproofed the walls with black panels. I thought it was more for her than the other building occupants because the person who greeted us was a tiny woman wearing a chunky and elaborate headset. “Ravenwood?” Vic looked over my shoulder and pointed her chin at Lukas. “Who’s the guy? I was told you’d come alone.” I squirmed a bit in place, and my back eventually sagged. I didn’t know why I had let Lukas tag along. Moral su