Gray knew he was coming.

Alexander-not his true mate.

It wasn't that Gray could feel the Pureblood's presence near his room or hear heavy footfal s moving toward the door. No, it was as it would always be. He heard the thought. The single and only thought.

"Little shit better be conscious."

Gray smiled. He had packed his duffel and was standing beside the twin mattress in his sparsely furnished room-

the room that had once attracted him because of its resemblance to the hospital rooms he'd lived in most of his life.

It didn't take long.

One hard rap on the wood and Alexander Roman walked in. He looked as he always did-impenetrable and fierce.

But Gray knew where his ferocity stemmed from-the love he had for his true mate, Gray's sister.

"It's like the old days," Gray said, tossing one last piece of clothing in his bag. "Coming to save the lost half vamp from himself."

Alexander shut the door and leaned against it, arms crossed over his chest. "Was never looking to be your life raft-then or now, Brother."

"I'm not your brother." Gray said the words with no malice, just the strength of truth.

"Why? Because I'm not blood."

"No, because you're Pure blood."

"My mate is like you," Alexander pressed. "Blood matters not to me."

"No, but I think it matters very much to me."

With a sigh, Alexander shook his head. "This is Dare."

"Dare fucked with his mind."

As the words played in his head, Gray stopped fiddling with his duffel and stood to face the paven. Perhaps it was the pure blood he'd been forced to drink or maybe the intense overload at Times Square had shut off the panic button in his brain, but the sounds of voices were muted now, even placed in separate tracks inside his mind so he could register them al individually. It wasn't normalcy by any means, but it was a relief to feel almost calm for once.

Gray eyed Alexander. "You need to know that Dare is holed up somewhere on the Hudson River, and he wil do anything to get the balas you keep here. He is moral y unreachable, his vision and goals skewed. I want nothing to do with that." He held up a hand. "But it is time for me to see my own goals clearly-search out my kind, learn, even fight for the cause, if I think it's a just one."

A slow, tense hum moved through Alexander. "What cause is that?"

"Equality." Gray leaned down and grabbed the duffel, tossed it over his shoulder.

"This is bullshit."

Alexander pushed away from the door. "If you leave, walk away from the protection of this house and its pavens, and away from the protection of this house and its pavens, and join some fools on a quest, know this-the Order wil hunt you."

Gray's eyes flashed gunmetal. "You too, right? If the ten cal on you."

In that moment, Alexander's thoughts were of Sara. Only of Sara. How this was going to cause her such pain. Gray smiled. He was glad his sister had such a paven.

"We want nothing to do with a war between the Purebloods and the Impures," Alexander said, his tone as tight as his expression. "And if it does come to pass, we wil not choose sides."

Gray raised a brow. "You may have to."

As he walked past Alexander, the Pureblood cal ed after him, his voice deadly, "Say goodbye to your sister before you leave or I swear to God I will hunt you down. Family or not. Pureblood or not."

"Whether you love your sister or not."

Gray opened the door and walked through it. "I love my sister, Alex, make no mistake about that."

He was halfway down the hal when he heard the paven growl, "What in hel ?"

And he was down the stairs and halfway to the door when he ran into Dillon.

She was dressed for travel, packed up like him.

"There he is." She gave him a big artificial smile. "You know, I looked al over for you. Taken by Dare, huh?"

He nodded. She was angry with him, but he wasn't sure why. Wasn't sure if he cared.

She sniffed. "And I thought you were in the bed of some She sniffed. "And I thought you were in the bed of some female, as usual."

"You pissed at me, D?"

"Nah. I'd have to care about you to have those kinds of feelings."

Gray studied her, tried to read what was going on behind those cat eyes. But nothing doing. She was as closed as ever. "You leaving?"

"I think I'm done here," she said. "Need to get back to my life, my work." She eyed his duffel. "You?"

"Yep. Me too. Life, work."

For a moment, she was quiet, her eyes on him. Then she gave him a quick wave and headed for the door. "Goodbye, Gray."

"I'll be seeing you, veana," he said, watching her walk outside and hover a moment on the step before she flashed away.

Nicholas had never felt so warm. He'd never thought about it before, but he was a cold-blooded animal. Or so he felt at times. But with her . . . things were different.

It was night, but he had no idea what part of the night it was. Outside the window, the lights of the city stil twinkled against the black sky.

Beside him, Kate snuggled into the curve of his arm, her cheek on his chest. "Have you ever slept with someone?"

she whispered, her breath grazing his nipple. "In the same bed, al night?"

"No," he said. "You?"

"No."

"Good, because I'd have to cut his dick off and serve it to him raw."

She laughed, pressed her body closer to his side.

"Morphed pavens are nuts."

"True mated pavens cannot be helped," he clarified, feeling his cock jump as she pressed her wet core against his hip. It had been a half hour and yet she was stil wet-

from his seed, his mouth . . . "And who says you're sleeping tonight, veana? "

He pulled her on top of him, groaned at the sweet weight of her, the softness of her bel y against his shaft, the press of her nipples against his chest, the beauty of her eyes and face and expression as she looked down at him.

"Slave driver," she chided, her mouth kicking up at the corners.

"Come here," he whispered, feeling suddenly soft and sentimental about her, like he wanted to protect her from even the slightest thing-a wil ful breeze or a paven who could stay inside her for days if she'd al ow him.

He threaded his hand in her hair, cupped her scalp and gently brought her lips down to his. He kissed her passionately, tasting her tongue, suckling her lower lip, and she fol owed him. They were a perfect match, designed to fit and complement each other. And yet their need for each other seemed to be so much deeper than just the body.

Nicholas felt an urge to consume her, take her goodness into himself and resurrect into a being who was worthy of her care. Even her love.

Kate sat up, straddled his waist. With her large heavenly eyes she watched him as she fisted his cock in her warm hand, smiled sensual y as she stroked the swol en head against her core until it shined with her juices. Lifting her hips up slightly, she guided him inside her body, then sat down with a sigh.

A deep growl escaped Nicholas and he gripped her hips, ready to rock her back and forth, lift and lower. But Kate had other ideas. Placing her feet on either side of his head, she stretched back slightly, her hands bracketing his thighs.

Nicholas stared at the sight before him. Her cunt and his shaft, joined, wet, pulsing together in a rhythm that made his breath seize in his lungs.

As she began to move, pumping her hips forward, finding her pace, he reached out and stroked her from his buried shaft to her swol en clit. She released a soft moan and let her head drop back as her hips continued to take him in and let him out.

Nicholas could barely hold himself together. She was like a goddess writhing above him and he wanted to make her climax over and over until al she saw were stars, and al she wanted were his arms around her.

Panting, she rode him hard and he fol owed her rhythm, flicking her clit in quick little movements. Moisture dripped from her core like honey, and his mouth watered.

Suddenly, the mated male inside him unleashed, and he snarled, flipped her to her back in one easy movement and bit into the mark near her right nipple.

Kate gasped, cried out, and opened her legs as wide as they would go. "Oh yes. Fuck me, Nicky."

As he rode her hard, he fil ed his mouth, his throat, and his bel y with her blood, never stopping, never slowing, not even when she bucked and shook and shattered beneath him.

An hour later, Nicholas stood beside the bed and gazed down at his true mate. She slept on her side, looking young and sweet and so achingly desirable al he wanted to do was get back into bed and put his arm around her waist, pul her close to his chest. He had never wanted anyone like he wanted her. She was like gravo, only better, richer, and more satisfying in every way.

But no matter how much he craved her again, he had something to settle downstairs. They were waiting for him.

He could feel it.

He dressed quickly and left the room. He would be back, he mused, heading for the stairs, and this time he would have her in the bathtub. Or the shower. Or both. God, the thought of water raining down over her breasts, her nipples, his mark . . .

He was grinning as he entered the library, but the moment he saw Lucian, his mood soured.

Standing near the wal where a map of the Hudson River had been tacked up, the near-albino looked positively fiendish. He turned and glared at Nicholas. "Ah, has the whore left the bed of his latest trick?"

Bloodshed and carnage raged through Nicholas in that moment. Whatever was standing there mocking him wasn't his brother. It was his enemy. Without thought or question, he ran at the paven and tackled him, sent him to the ground. With a grunt, he smashed his fist into Lucian's gut, then jacked his knee up into the paven's chin. He heard the rattle of teeth and snarled-until Lucian flipped him over and cracked his jaw with a hard right. For a good five seconds, Nicholas saw stars, but after he shook his head clear, he jumped on the bastard again.

The two rolled around like pigs in the mud, cursing and punching each other in any and every available spot until Alexander kicked them off each other. "Get the hel up, you idiots."

Cursing, they broke apart, and Nicholas stumbled backward. He stood there panting, his eyes narrowed on his younger brother. "Just say it."

"What? That you're a fucking liar?" Lucian wiped blood off his mouth. "Fine! You're a fucking piece-of-shit liar!"

Nicholas was so amped up he wanted to run at the albino again. "Keep going. You know you want to."

"Oh, I want to."

"Then, get it out, Luca," he snarled. "Come on-say it, asshole. SAY IT! Tel me I fucking disgust you."

Lucian jabbed a finger at Nicholas. "Yeah, you do!"

"Tel me I've disappointed you."

"Fucking right."

"Tel me you wish you'd never saved my ass that day in the al ey behind my house!"

Lucian opened his mouth to strike back again, but when he realized what his brother had said he froze, went ghost pale.

Swal owing his own blood, the aggression dying off as his brother's face grew more pained, Nicholas shook his head. "Tel me that maybe I deserved what I got that day."

"Stop it," Lucian ground out.

"Tel me seven wasn't enough-that I should've been beaten until I bled out."

"Shut up! Christ."

"Enough, Nicky." It was Alexander. He'd al owed the yel ing, the bar fight, and the accusations to fly. But only so far. "Don't you think that's enough, Duro?"

Nicholas realized he was barely breathing, that air was trapped inside his chest, that his face was wet with something too, and his fangs were dropped so far down they were nearly to his chin.

"Shit." He took a breath. "I'm sorry. I'm real y sorry. I swear to God I never meant for this to happen."

Lucian stared at him. "Which part? The lying to us, or having Dare shout it out to us in fucking Times Square?"

"Both."

"Did Kate find you?" Alexander asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

Nicholas nodded.

"I told her, you know." Alexander shrugged. "Maybe I shouldn't have, but she cares about you, and maybe you need that or something."

Yes, he'd needed it. He needed her.

"So?" Lucian put in, his rage defused, but not total y gone. "It's done, then? You have her, so this fucking for money thing is over?"

Nicholas wanted to give them both the answer they were looking for. Hell, he wanted to say it for himself and mean it

-believe it. But he couldn't lie to them again. Whatever he decided to do from that moment forward, it was with ful disclosure to his brothers. "Listen, I shouldn't have lied to you, but what I do in my personal time is mine to choose."

"That sounds like a no to me," Lucian said, then turned and headed for the door. "I'm going to work out in the tunnels. Smash some heads down there. Hey, if you're interested in joining me, Nicky, I'd love to reintroduce you to my fist. Maybe I can reconnect some wires or something."

When he was gone, Alexander didn't waste any time beating the injured horse. "You have a mate now," he said.

"And you seem to care for her."

"Of course I care for her." Shit, he may even love her. He wasn't exactly sure what that felt like, but whatever he was feeling had to be something close.

"Are you wil ing to give her up?" Alexander asked. "Are you wil ing to let her walk away, out, into the arms of another paven?"

The rage that boiled within Nicholas at that moment could've set the house on fire. It was possible, to walk away from one's true mate. The pain would be excruciating, and the blood of another would never truly satisfy, but it could be done.

"All for something you don't need," Alexander continued, "for something that gives you no love, no honor."

Nicholas's nostrils flared. "How about for something you love, you need-something you fight to keep safe."

"What does that mean?" Alexander asked, wary.

"The deal I made with the Order after I went to get Kate.

It's not just Dare's body they want anymore. I must bring Kate back to the Order or they wil morph Lucian anyway."

Alexander looked horrified, as if he were trying to imagine the same scenario with his Sara. "Your mate's life or your brother's."

"Yes," Nicholas said, realizing that the wetness he'd felt on his face earlier were tears. His first. "The one who saved my life then or the one who offers me a new one now."

Kate stood outside the door to the library, her lips dry, her throat too as she listened. She had come downstairs to find him. She'd come downstairs thinking she could talk him into snuggling-or something equal y cute and nauseating-on the couch in the den, maybe watching something sexy and funny while she force-fed him popcorn until he growled at her.

God, she was so stupid!

He was talking about her in there like she was a choice he had to make. Like he had control of her body and her life, and her goddamn future. And she'd let him think that.

She stood there and shook her head. Romanticizing the nights they'd had together, letting her mind and her unbeating heart believe they were anything more than mutual satisfaction, wasn't her best move.

What happened to self-protecting? Enjoying herself to a point, then moving on? What happened to the promise she'd made to herself? The long days and even longer nights in her cell, unable to sleep, listening to the weeping and the anger-she'd gotten through it al by promising herself that someday she would be free.

She heard movement in the library and forced herself to turn around and head back to the stairway. He couldn't see her like this-al sad and disil usioned. He couldn't know she'd heard him.

She started up the stairs. She wasn't getting in the middle of blood-not even as a true mate. Nicholas had an impossible decision in front of him and she wasn't going to force him to make it. After that insane meet-up with the Order, he'd said that if she got "lost" he wouldn't come looking for her. She hoped he'd stand by his word.

"You work too long, my daughter. It is time you rested."

Bronwyn looked up from her desk, from her computer screen and smiled. "I'm almost done, Father."

"See that you are," the old paven said, his green eyes warm with worry as he stood in the doorway of her office.

"Then come down. Your mother and I would like to discuss something with you."

"Is it about my future happiness, Papa?" she joked, knowing that finding her a mate, even if he was not true, weighed heavily on them.

"Hurry up now," he said. "I've brought Edel to help you."

I don't need help, she wanted to say. But what was the point? They didn't hear her cry for independence, and al owed her to work inside the house only because the Order had sanctioned it. They were not modern vampires, and she would never expect them to be.

Edel walked in then, and her father closed the door.

"What are you working on?" the older veana asked.

Turning back to the screen, Bronwyn closed the window.

"Something personal."

"Involving a certain clan of brothers, perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

Edel's sigh could've been heard al the way to Beacon Hill. She didn't like the Romans, especial y Lucian, and wanted Bronwyn to steer clear of the whole gang.

"Please don't get involved with them again," Edel said, her eyes heavy with worry. "It's already taken a tol on you."

She appreciated her friend's concern for her, but the veana didn't understand what was happening inside Bronwyn, where her recent bouts of weakness and lack of appetite were coming from. It certainly had nothing to do with the Romans. Meta was soon to be upon her, just as the need to find her true mate would overwhelm her good sense.

Bronwyn gave the veana a soft smile. "You can retire now, Edel."

"But your father-"

"Is not the boss," she finished firmly, yet good-naturedly.

"But please don't tel him I said so. His feelings would be hurt."

The older veana smiled. She knew a losing battle when she was playing one. "Al right, Bron. I wil see you tomorrow."

After Edel was out the door, Bronwyn reached for her cel phone. As she dialed the Manhattan number, her eyes slid to the computer screen again. What stared back at her was remarkable, and yet she hesitated believing it. One more time perhaps?

She disconnected the cal and placed her phone back on the desk.

She would run the test once more to be certain.