“What’s wrong?” Salem quietly rumbled.

So deep in thought, I nearly jumped out of my skin. His gaze was piercing, searching, concerned. Oh, I had every intention of answering his question, but now wasn’t the time or the place. And it would be fun to torment him a little anyway, particularly since he could be quite adorable when he was irritated.

“What’s wrong?” he repeated.

I sniffed. “Nothing.”

“Ava…” It was a warning.

A warning I snorted at. The red ring to his irises that marked him as a Pagori vampire began to glow, which meant he was either thirsty, angry, or horny. Pagoris were the most powerful of the three breeds; they easily became aggressive and were incredibly strong and fast, but the downside was that they had an overpowering bloodlust. Kejas, who were marked by the amber ring to their irises, all had hypnotic beauty to lure in their prey, but the poor things also had fangs.

I was a Sventé. My kind were the weakest of the three breeds; considered tame in that we didn’t have a strong bloodlust, which allowed us to easily blend in with humans. Also, our gifts tended to be defensive and mostly boring. However, once in a while, there were Sventés with offensive gifts, just like me and Sam.

Sam, who had once belonged to my nest – a nest I might soon leave – had later become a mix of all three breeds, but I wasn’t sure exactly how it happened. It was a story that only a select few knew.

“Ava…What. Is. Wrong?” Salem growled; that deep rumble did strange things to my insides. But I’d ignore that, I’d ignore my body’s responses to him, and I’d ignore his demand for an answer. Instead, I’d do what I always did when he annoyed me.

I smiled sweetly as I gently – and a little patronisingly – patted his rock-hard chest. “Just breathe.” And, yep, his face turned a disturbing shade of red. Ooh, such fun.

(Salem)

The female drove me fucking insane, and I was pretty sure she knew it. I wasn’t usually the type to care about other people’s problems. Just like I wasn’t usually attracted to petite women, and just like I ordinarily found bubbly, ridiculously happy people to be highly annoying. Yet, Ava Sanchez…She did something to me, brought out reactions that I was done with overthinking.

“Stop petting me like I’m a warm, cuddly bear.” She often did that when I scowled or snapped at her, all the while smiling indulgently at me…like a parent might do to a back-chatting toddler. I wasn’t warm. And I wasn’t cuddly.

But then, she knew that. We’d fought alongside each other; she’d seen me use my vampiric gift to kill, seen me enjoy using it. Yet, she apparently didn’t have the common sense to be wary of me. It was satisfying, since it got kind of old when everyone looked at you like they feared you wanted to eat their spleen. But it was also frustrating, because it would be impossible to keep someone safe if they didn’t experience fear. And she clearly didn’t.

Since she’d first appeared at The Hollow, I’d become increasingly fascinated with Ava. The hot little body, the innate grace, the combination of sweet and deadly, the beautiful fucking smile, and the fact that she smelt like sex, jasmine, and black liquorice – the impact of it all had hit me like a damn freight train.

I didn’t like seeing her pissed and subdued. In Sam’s words, Ava was ‘like the energizer bunny’. She was fast-moving, fast-talking, and always wearing that big cheery smile that I should have found irritating. Now, though, she was acting like…well, me: surly, irritable, and distant. I didn’t like it. She was unusually upset and I wanted to fix it. But she was playing dumb.

I wanted to collar her throat and force her to tell me what was bothering her.

I also wanted to slam her edible body onto the table and shove my cock deep inside her.

It was a struggle not to do either of those things. I was obsessed, and I knew it. Knew that it wasn’t good, because I was always intense and aggressive in going after what I wanted. It was never good for someone like me to be obsessive about anything, to want something as badly as I wanted Ava Sanchez.

The reality was that I had absolutely no right to want her. I was tainted and jaded, had too many stains on what was left of my soul. Ava, with her cheery and mischievous nature, couldn’t have been more different from me. To be with her would feel like I was touching something I had no right to touch. Christ knew I’d tarnished enough things in my life.

For a short time, it had made me hold back from her. But I was too selfish to be noble and self-sacrificing. I never denied myself what I wanted, and I wouldn’t deny myself Ava. Nor would I settle for a fling. No, we were going to be much more than that. Because I always held tight to what was mine. Whether Ava liked it or not, that was exactly what she was.

Needing to know what was bothering her so I could quickly deal with the problem, I growled into her ear, “Ava, tell me.”

Again, she flashed me a sweet little smile and patted my chest. “Easy, big guy. We don’t want you hyperventilating.”

I ground my teeth. “What makes you feel the need to drive me insane?”

“Do you want a list?”

Just then, Sam and Jared entered the room with their Advisor, Luther. That couldn’t be good. All vampires had a gift of some kind, and Luther’s was precognition. Many meetings had started with “Luther had a vision”, and things had often gone to shit after that.

My voice was low when I spoke again. “We’ll talk after the meeting.” The minx sniffed, dismissing me. Oh, she’d pay for that.

Although Sam and Jared had been the Grand High Pair for a few months now, it still felt weird to have meetings without Antonio being present. He was the one who had designed The Hollow, wanting a safe place to reside, since he’d had to worry about attempts on his life by those who coveted his position.

Sam and Jared now faced that danger, but unlike Antonio, they didn’t remain sequestered on the island. The Bound couple came on all assignments with my squad, just as they had when they had been commanders. If I was right, we were about to be given a new assignment. I had absolutely no idea why Ava was present at the meeting, but something told me that I wasn’t going to like the reason.

“Evening all.” Sam wasn’t much for pleasantries. She leaned forward in her seat, flicking her long brown hair over her shoulder. “Luther had a vision last night.” Everyone groaned, which pulled smiles from the couple and Luther.