Those symphath fuckers really knew how to build a better mousetrap, didn’t they.

John Matthew tapped her on the shoulder, and as she glanced over, he signed, Rehv is here. He’s going to make sure nothing happens.

Given the concern in his eyes, her knee-jerk response was along the lines of, I’m not worried. But she never could hide anything from her hellren.

“Rehv’s a good guy,” was all she could say.

Well, actually, the king of the symphaths was so much more complicated than that. Like her, as a half-breed, he had a combination of characteristics from both the vampire side and the dangerous cesspool of their fathers’ DNA. But at least she didn’t have to take dopamine to constantly keep herself in check. Unlike her, Rehv had to medicate to stay on level—

The shed door opened, and a figure in blood-red robes stepped out, looking like a gospel singer who’d lost his altar spot.

As the wind changed direction, and she caught Blade’s scent, her fangs descended and she unholstered a gun.

The nasty laugh that came across on the breeze made her question this whole thing: The meeting. The quest she seemed to be falling into. The reality that she felt completely out of control. And as her brother closed the distance, he was just what she remembered, tall and powerfully built, his wavy jet-black hair like a flock of crows orbiting around his head.

Either that or an evil halo.

“The prodigal sister returns,” he drawled.

“Spare me the bullshit, okay.”

“Is that any way to greet your bloodline?” Blade looked at John Matthew. “And who is this? Wait, let me guess, he’s your—”

Blade didn’t get a chance to finish what was no doubt a doozy of an insult, likely with a sexual innuendo chaser. John Matthew had at the symphath in the blink of an eye—one second standing back from the other male, the next grabbing her brother around the throat with a thick forearm and putting one of his muzzles right to her “bloodline’s” temple.

In the silence that followed, Xhex thought … Yeeeeeeah, this was among the reasons she’d mated the guy.

Meanwhile, Blade, a.k.a. Horace to the Colony, didn’t blink an eye. He just smiled at her, his fangs long and white.

“So he’s bonded, has he,” was the response.

“Yup,” she said. “And I’m not going to feel bad if he puts a bullet through your frontal lobe. He will get a couple really good blow jobs out of it, though.”

John Matthew’s brows popped. Then he mouthed, Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Blade wasn’t as impressed. “Oh, but then you won’t have what you came for, will you. Such a waste of time traveling up here from that gilded cage you live in on that mountain. And consider the dry-cleaning bills—it’s windy out here so my gray matter is going to end up on your leather, too … sister mine.”

“I’m sure there are other ways to find out what I need to know.”

“Are there?”

“Always.”

“Then tell him to pull the trigger. Right now. Go on.”

Xhex ground her molars. “Stop playing games, Blade, it’s boring.”

“Oh, I think this is quite fun, actually.” Blade hummed a couple of bars of the Jeopardy! theme. “And I’m happy to tell you what you need to know, but your hubby is going to have to take this piece of metal off my temple.”

After a moment, she nodded at John Matthew, and her mate stepped off so fast, Blade had to catch his balance. As he straightened himself, his sanguine robing swung forward, looking like it was alive and trying to lunge at Xhex.

Her brother glanced at John Matthew. “You know I’m named after a vampire killer, don’t you.”

“He’s not going to care,” Xhex cut in. “And it’s just your nickname.”

Blade ignored her. “Cat got your tongue there, big man? Or are you just the strong, silent stud type.”

“Tell me about the lab,” she demanded. “There’s another one, isn’t there. And it’s somewhere around here.”

With a twist of the head, Blade transferred his focus to her. And for an instant—just an instant—she could have sworn that his left eye twitched like he was having some kind of an emotional reaction. He hid that shit quick, though. And she couldn’t have guessed what it had been.

“Yes, there is a lab. And it is up and running again.”

Behind her own facade of composure, Xhex was aware that her insides had liquefied from terror. But two could play at the all-fine game.

“So where is it.” When Blade didn’t answer, she stepped up to him. “You’re a half-breed, too, ‘brother mine.’ So don’t pretend your guilt isn’t showing. It bothered you when they gave me over to the humans—”

“The hell it did—”

“—and it still does.” She laughed tightly. “And that’s the reason you came out here. It’s not because Rehv made you. He can’t make you do shit. You still feel bad and you figure if you tell me what you know, it gets you off the hook.”

As Blade’s eyes narrowed, she shook her head. “FYI, it doesn’t bother me that you’re a self-serving sonofabitch. It’s actually the only reason I’d trust any word out of your goddamn piehole tonight.”

“Aren’t you a little symphath, sister.” Except then Blade looked away. And looked back. “And I don’t feel any guilt at all.”

Xhex put her forefinger to the center of her brother’s chest. “I know what’s in here. I see you, brother.”

When Blade slapped her hand away, John Matthew re-leveled his right-handed weapon directly at the other male’s skull.

Blade glanced over at the forty’s barrel. “Please. Spare me.” Then he refocused on Xhex and stopped with the bullshit. “I don’t know the details, but I can tell you where to go to get them. Maybe. There’s someone who knows, and if you’re a good little girl, they’ll talk to you. But that’s all on you.”

“If you double cross me, the Black Dagger Brotherhood will ahvenge my death. You know that, right. And Rehv will not stop them.”

In the silence that followed, she wondered whether the male was going to try to bravado something to that. But he didn’t. Because he knew it was true.

Blade just crossed his arms over his robes. “You have to go to Deer Mountain. In Walters. I’ll have the person meet you on the main trail. I’ll arrange everything.”

Xhex inclined her head. “Fair enough.”

“You’ll have to go alone.”

“I’m not afraid,” she said grimly. “And again, I’d think carefully about what you line up. You fuck with me and the shitstorm that will fall on your head from the Brotherhood will make Armageddon look like a tea party.”

On that cheerful note, she and John Matthew dematerialized up, up, and away. To say leaving was a relief was an understatement.

To say she was looking forward to whatever came next … was pure insanity.

But sometimes, you had to do shit you didn’t want.

So you could sleep at day.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, at 4:23 a.m., Lydia stepped out of her back door and looked to the trees. Then she checked around what she could see of the property.