“No,” she said. “I think that is really amazing.”

And what do you know, on that note, she got her own job done. After she flushed, she opened the panel and was surprised, given the silence, that the female was still by the sinks.

Her face was wary, like she wanted to assess Paradise’s affect.

Paradise met those intense teal eyes without hesitation as she went over and washed her hands in warm water with soap that smelled like lemon.

“In fact, I envy you,” she found herself murmuring as she checked her reflection in the mirror.

No makeup and fluorescent lights were not a good combo when you hadn’t slept for almost forty-eight hours—and had gone through organized torture.

“Why are you any different?” the female asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“If you like girls.”

“Oh, no.” She thought of her response to Craeg. And then enjoyed a couple of mental snapshots of his hand pumping under that sheet. “Yeah, no. I’m into males.”

Novo shrugged and straightened. “So it still stands. Why are you any different?”

Paradise stared at her reflection, and thought about her bloodline. Her father. “Long, boring story.”

“Long stories that people don’t want to talk about are never the boring ones.”

At the change in tone, Paradise shifted her eyes over. Novo was looking toward the door out of the bathroom, her strong body strung tight, her hands squeezing the edge of the sink so hard her knuckles were white.

“What happened to you?” Paradise whispered.

Novo shook herself back into focus. “Nothing that matters anymore. We’re heading to the weight room, right?”

“Did they say that?”

“Yeah.”

Paradise must have been watching Craeg walk out of the classroom. “I’m losing my mind.”

“You’re okay. Splash your face with some cold water. It’ll bring you back—works for me all the time.”

Paradise watched the female leave … and then she cranked on the faucet that was marked with a C.

Might as well give it a go.

Maybe it would cool off her libido, too.

Chapter Twenty-four

Sitting at the desk in Tohr’s office, Butch stood the long, thin metal key up on the end that had the red tassel … and let the thing fall to the blotter. As gravity made it tap out, the sound was a solid thunk. With a curse, he picked it up, stood it on its other end … and let it fall. And again. And again—

“Are you ready?”

He looked up at Tohr, who’d leaned in through the glass door. “Hey, yeah, sure. Who’re you sending in first?”

“Axwelle. Figured you might as well start the eval with the one most likely to be considered a sociopath.”

“Perfect.” He swiveled to the computer, tapped in a few commands and got the hidden video camera rolling. “Pull him out of the workout.”

“Roger that.”

As the glass door eased shut, Butch watched his fingers work the tasseled key some more. He hadn’t wanted to say it to his Marissa, but to him and V, it was pretty clear what the thing was. The problem? When nada had come up on the Internet search, V had hit his connections in the vampire underground … but nothing had surfaced with any of the sex clubs or groups.

A key to get you in so you could get it on. So to speak.

Ordinarily, Butch would have wondered if people weren’t hiding something or lying, but V was a legit member of the wonderful world of kink—plus the brother wasn’t above using a little muscle to get information if he had to.

Yet another reason the two of them were tight.

So what else was it. Where else could he—

At the sound of a knock on the glass, he glanced up and motioned with his hand. “Hey, man. C’mon in, sit down.”

As Axwelle entered, the guy made a move with his hands like he was used to cramming them in the pockets of his jeans, but then had nowhere to go with the impulse in his training uni. “Can I stand?”

“Nope.” Butch nodded to the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “There. And that is not a suggestion, that’s a requirement.”

They had to make sure the trainee’s face was in full view of the lens up in the corner behind him.

Axwelle—or Axe, as he called himself—crossed his arms over his chest and planted it in the seat. “What’s this about?”

“Just want to talk to you for a little bit. Get to know you better.” Butch frowned and sat forward. Then he dangled the key by its red tassel. “You recognize this?”

“No.”

“Then why did your eyes just go to it?”

“Because it’s in your hand and you’re not holding anything else. There’s nothing on the desk, either.”

Butch held the tassel between his thumb and forefinger and let the thing swing from side to side. “That’s the only reason, huh.”

“Do I look like I worry about keys?”

“How do you know it’s a key?”

Eyes that were nearly as yellow as Phury’s locked on him and stayed put. “What else could it be?”

“You tell me.”

“I thought this was supposed to be a get-to-know-ya. What the fuck does some whatever-it-is have to do with my ass?”

Butch studied the kid’s face, looking for tells. Huh. You know, without the half-job tattoos and piercings, the guy might have been handsome. And he might well be a good poker player, considering all the mask-in-place he was rolling.