Master Khentimentiu of the Night Bloode
Not surprisingly, Talon had argued he needed to come with her. But she had no intention of putting anyone in more danger than she was already in.
The shifters of Beast Brigade agreed with her.
Val knew Khent wanted her alive. Talon was still on the Night Bloode’s shit list for poisoning the nachzehrer and his lycan mate. Riley, said lycan mate and powerful berserker, was the only person who might be able to provide adequate protection for them when they eventually fought Vladimir.
Riley owed Talon a debt. No matter how annoyed with him she might be, she’d pay it, or so Talon said.
Personally, Val thought Riley would ditch them when they needed her most. Not that Val could blame her. Keeping that worst-case scenario in mind, Val kept working on backup spells and plans to provide alternate protection.
But even she had to admit she couldn’t fight the most powerful necromancer on the planetanda reaper. Not with their small group of shifters or by herself.
She’d left Grizz and Aisha at home to keep an eye on everyone. For all that she’d thought herself hidden, the reaper had found her easily enough.
Mustering up courage, she left her car in front of a gorgeous mansion in Mercer Island and gazed at such beauty under a bright night, the waning moon inviting.
She let her energy drift in the air, twining around the place, and felt an instant connection with the power inside.
Shocked, she blinked at a super tall, older woman, who suddenly appeared in front of her. They stood nose to nose.
“Well, hello there.” The woman had pale skin, long black hair threaded with white, and dark, slender eyes with long lashes, hinting at Japanese ancestry.
“Er, hi.” Val didn’t know where the woman had come from. She didn’t stand near any trees, and there were at least thirty feet from her spot at the curb to the home’s front door.
“Follow me,” the woman said, welcome in her voice.
Startled to find the stranger shrinking in size as they walked, Val used her magic to look at her but saw nothing but a vague shadow…that extended to the entire house.
The woman opened the door and entered, but Val took a moment before crossing the threshold. Would taking this step seal her own fate, stealing away her freedom?
What sane woman willingly visited a house of vampires and thought she’d live to see tomorrow?
Once inside, she took a deep breath and let it out, striving for calm. The home looked lovely, tastefully decorated and empty of everyone but the older woman and Val.
No Khent to speak of.
She let herself relax just a little.
They walked past the living room and dining room into a grand kitchen.
Where Khent and a blond man waited.
Crap.
Upon seeing her, Khent smiled, looking positively villainous. And sexy. And annoying. “I see you made the right choice.”
“The only choice,” she grumbled.
“Perhaps you aren’t as unintelligent as I’d thought.”
It took all Val had not to flip him off.
“She totally wants to say something nasty,” the blond murmured and grinned, showing fangs.
Fangs from a blond? But not a fae. So it was true. The Night Bloode really did have a yellow-haired draugr.
From what she knew of his tribe, draugrs had powerful magic, considered themselves tricksters—as if normal vamps weren’t bad enough—and shifted into wolves. They lived and congregated in Scandinavian regions, so seeing them in the States was unusual enough.
