kept breathing, kept standing, and kept her expression the same, even hearing that name. “Avoid Gabriel unless you’re fond of pain. You aren’t, correct?” he asked worriedly.

She rubbed absently at her wrist as she shook her head. “I never have been.”

“There are a few others who come and go, so don’t be surprised if one of them pulls you aside. I’ll tell the guards on the west wing not to challenge you.” Jaguar paused, and she could see indecision on his face before he said, “You can go if you want to.”

It was not a command, and she wondered why he was offering the permission. He had already made it clear that she could speak freely, and she assumed asking to leave was within the realm of what she could say.

Absently, she brushed back some of the hair from her face, and she saw as Jaguar’s eyes followed how the long strands slid across her throat. Though his dark skin did not show pallor as clearly as Lord Daryl’s had, Turquoise could tell Jaguar had not fed yet, and she recognized the hungry look in his black eyes.

Testing, she stood, the movement appearing reluctant. “I’ll leave you to your work if you’d like.”

He answered the way she had expected him to. Not raising his gaze from her throat, he said, “Come here.” Though the words were an order, the tone left room for argument.

For a moment, Turquoise almost felt guilty. She was intentionally manipulating him. A feeding vampire is an easy target; most of them completely lost sense of their surroundings as they drew blood. Jaguar did not even try to catch her mind as his lips fell to her throat. If she had been armed, it would have been revoltingly easy to kill him.

CHAPTER 8

JAGUAR RELEASEDTURQUOISEreluctantly, holding her wrists until he was sure she could stand on her own. She took a deep breath and leaned back against a wall. He had taken a little more than she would have lost in a hospital blood donation, but it was enough to make her light-headed.

The sound of a throat being cleared in the doorway brought her back to her senses. When she saw who stood there, an instant of frozen panic shoved the fuzziness aside.

Lord Daryl. He wore his customary steel-toed boots; just seeing them made Turquoise’s ribs ache in memory. She knew his charcoal gray pants would be dry clean only, as would the blue silk shirt. His hair reflected any color around him like a raven’s feathers, and just now it appeared black with blue highlights.

His features looked sculpted from ivory, with just a faint flush—he had fed tonight, but not recently.

And he was beautiful. Why were vampires always beautiful?

In her years as a hunter, she had looked for answers to this. She knew many of them had been changed because their beauty attracted attention. She knew that the vampiric blood erased all the little human flaws, smoothed the skin, firmed the muscle, and in general perfected their form. But knowing intellectually was not the same as seeing.

Beautiful like the Devil, and twice as frightening. Turquoise’s heart was suddenly pounding so hard she could feel it against her temples; she knew Jaguar and Lord Daryl both would be able to hear it, but she could not focus enough to slow it. Two years of Bruja training might as well never have occurred.

“What do you want, Daryl?” Jaguar snapped. Clearly, he did not like his guest. He held Turquoise against himself, either protectively or possessively. Turquoise liked to think it was the first. But Jaguar’s protection had its dangers, too. Lord Daryl had always been jealous.

“New acquisition?” Lord Daryl bit out, his gaze falling on Turquoise with instant recognition before it rose to meet Jaguar’s in blatant hatred.

“A gift from Jeshickah. What do you want?” Jaguar repeated, his feelings for Daryl mirroring Daryl’s for him.

“Has Jeshickah decided whether she is going to stay?” Lord Daryl responded, apparently in no hurry to get to the point.

Jaguar shook his head. “She hasn’t told me her plans. If you’ve got nothing better to do than chat, Daryl, I must ask you to leave. I have work.” Daryl started to argue, but did not manage to get a word out before Jaguar added, “Dismissed, Daryl,” in a voice so cold it made gooseflesh rise on Turquoise’s arms.

Lord Daryl stalked out, fury written in every movement.

“You can just order him around like that?” Turquoise asked, before she could bite her tongue to stop herself.

“Supposedly, everyone in this building is under my command.”

“Why supposedly?”

“There are always exceptions,” Jaguar answered dryly.

Jeshickah, Turquoise guessed. And maybe Gabriel.

“Go find something to entertain yourself with, Audra,” Jaguar sighed. “I should speak to Jeshickah before Daryl goes whining to her.”

Jaguar preceded her into the hallway, which Turquoise entered only with great trepidation. Lord Daryl had barely acknowledged her in Jaguar’s presence, but he had recognized her. If he caught her alone she imagined no leniency.

Turquoise halted in the hallway and watched Jaguar leave, leaning back against the wall as if a bit faint, until she could focus and plan her next move.

Lord Daryl was an unexpected danger she would have to cope with. She had her own agenda, to accomplish with or without him in the way.

Right now, she wanted to see the courtyard. She could check the door to the south wing, but she imagined it would be inaccessible at this time, as too many people would be within sight. She would never be able to pick the lock and get inside without being seen.

As she stepped into the hallway on her way to the south wing, Turquoise bit back a curse. Ravyn. Whatever she was doing here, it wasn’t in line with their plan to lay low until they understood what was going on.

Ravyn didn’t seem to be in trouble yet, but she looked pretty near. Gabriel was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and regarding Ravyn with skepticism as she spoke.

Huffily, Ravyn turned away and started toward the south wing; her vampiric companion grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Turquoise started to approach, but Ravyn caught her eye and shook her head minutely. She did not look distressed, so Turquoise would let her handle this on her own.

Turquoise returned to her room and paced, waiting for Ravyn. Her energy was ferocious behind the docile front she had to display; she wanted to fight something. She was anxious to complete their mission and leave; she was doubly anxious to know what trouble Ravyn had gotten them into.

Jeshickah couldn’t be that difficult a target. Jaguar detested her so Turquoise doubted he would protect her. All Turquoise needed was a knife and a moment of opportunity.

Of course, if she misjudged and Jaguar did get in the way, he would probably have to go, too.

Finally the door opened, and Ravyn sauntered in. The girl looked a bit pale, tired, but pleased as punch.

“What was that?” Turquoise immediately snapped.

Ravyn just stretched, yawned, and without bothering with pajamas climbed up to her bed. “It’s almost sunrise, Turquoise. Get some sleep.”

Sleep? Strangling Ravyn seemed once again like a very good idea.

“Ravyn—”

“I am tired,” Ravyn responded. “And incidentally, I have a plan. Let me sleep, and I’ll tell it to you. Later.” She pulled the pillow over her head.

Damn that girl.

Sunrise. Most of the vamps would be bedding down to sleep. They weren’t comatose under the sun, but a sleeping vampire was still an easier target than a fully conscious one. Sunrise would have been a perfect time to execute whatever Ravyn’s plan was.

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