Snarling, Ozzie pulled his legs from under Aden, bending and anchoring them on Aden’s chest. A hard push had him flying backward. He hit a tree and sank to the ground. A pile of leaves softened the impact.

What’s going on? Eve suddenly demanded, groggy but loud.

Doing his best to ignore her, he hopped up and once more launched forward. He slammed his head into Ozzie’s throat. As Ozzie hunched over, gurgling, Aden kicked him in the stomach without a second’s thought. One thing he’d learned over the years was that there was no honor in fighting. You did whatever was necessary to win, even kick someone when they were down—especially when they were down—or you suffered.

He joined his hands and bashed them into Ozzie’s temple. Ozzie swung to the side, dropped to his knees. A plastic bag fell from his pocket. His head remained bowed, one hand clutching his middle, the other covering his face to protect it.

“Get up! Fight me! Isn’t that what you wanted?” This had been a long time coming, and now that they were punching it out, Dan not here to intervene, Aden couldn’t stop himself. He settled his weight on one leg, leaned forward and slammed his fist into Ozzie’s jaw. “Come on!”

Again, the impact sent him flying. Ozzie quickly righted himself and came up swinging. “Yeah, it’s what I wanted. What I’ll do.”

Aden ducked, jabbing the dreg in the stomach yet again and forcing more of that needed oxygen out of his mouth. He raised his leg to do it again.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The female voice was followed by the click of a gun. Slowly he lowered his leg and turned halfway, not letting Ozzie out of his sights but eyeing as much of the girl as he could. She was shorter than him by at least a foot, slight and trembling. And she was aiming a pistol right at him.

He could take her, even panting and sweating as he was. No longer was he in pain, his adrenaline simply too high. Hurting a girl, though, was not a prospect he enjoyed.

Because it’s wrong, Eve said, as if reading his mind.

He won’t have to hurt her, Elijah said. This is going to be okay.

How is a chick with an obviously itchy trigger finger gonna turn out okay? Caleb shouted.

Run, Aden, Julian commanded. Just start running.

Aden stepped backward.

Stay still! Elijah growled, and he froze.

Run, Julian commanded again, and he took another step.

Stop.

“Quiet!” he shouted, covering his ears.

“You be quiet! And move another inch, and I swear to God you’ll be eating every one of these bullets. Now who the hell are you?” the girl snarled. She was cute, despite the gun, with a short cap of blond hair. Her bottom lip was cut, as if she, too, had recently been in a fight.

“It’s okay, Casey,” Ozzie said, surprisingly calm as he stood. His words were slightly slurred, his jaw already swelling. “He’s from the ranch.”

She didn’t lower the gun. “You always tear into the guys you live with?”

“Yeah, I do.” Ozzie bent down and swiped up the plastic Baggies he’d dropped. “He’s not a cop, and he’s not gonna narc. He knows I’d stab him in his sleep if he tried.”

Aden knew a dime bag when he saw one. So Ozzie and the gun-wielding Casey were here for drugs. “For someone who just lost, you sure sound confident about what you can do to me.”

Ozzie stiffened. Casey straightened her aim.

Maybe he should have kept his mouth closed. But from the corner of his eye, he’d caught a glimpse of Victoria, gliding toward them, silent as a ghost, and the words had slipped out.

Neither Ozzie nor Casey even glanced in her direction.

Aden would have known she was there even if he hadn’t spotted her. Power radiated from her, enveloping the area, charging the air so much it crackled. As she closed the distance, her skin seemed whiter than ever. So white it glowed. Her dark robe was swaying in the breeze.

Told you it would be okay, Elijah said, smug.

Another gut feeling proven to be valid. At this rate, Elijah would soon be able to predict everything.

“You will not shoot him,” the vampire said in that raspy voice of hers, suddenly in front of Casey. She waved a hand near the girl’s face, opal ring catching beams of moonlight and casting rainbow shards in every direction.

Casey froze, so still Aden couldn’t even see her breathing.

“You will drop the gun and leave, your memory wiped clean of this event.”

There was no hesitation as Casey obeyed. The gun plopped harmlessly to the ground; she turned and walked away, never once glancing back. Aden was both in awe and embarrassed. Victoria’s powers were greater than he’d realized. And he’d just been saved by a girl. He should be the one doing the saving.

“What the—” Ozzie began.

“You, too, will leave, your memory wiped clean of this event.”

The dreg’s eyes glazed over and he, too, turned and walked away.

“I need him to remember,” Aden said. Otherwise, when they both awoke with bruised and battered faces, Ozzie would know they had to have fought, but wouldn’t know he’d lost to Aden. Aden wanted him to have that knowledge. To be afraid of coming after him. Afraid of retaliation.

Reluctant, Victoria nodded. “Very well. I shall return his memory to him by morning.”

“Thank you. For everything.” Aden’s gaze slid over her. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and the long, thick length of it hung over her shoulder. Her lips were pink rather than their usual red. “How’d you find me?”

“You’re bleeding,” she said rather than answering. Or maybe that was the answer. As she spoke, her eyes began to darken, black pupils overshadowing blue irises. Closer and closer she floated to him. But she stopped herself just before reaching him and backtracked. Looked away. “I shouldn’t have revealed myself.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Her gaze returned to him. Or rather, to the blood trickling from the bleeding cut on his lips. “I can stop the bleeding, if you’d like.” Her tongue flicked over her sharpening fangs. “It…it won’t mean anything. It’s just something I can do.”

He wasn’t sure how she planned to stop it, but he found himself nodding.

“I won’t…will try not to…hurt you. I’ll be gentle. Won’t be an animal.”

He wasn’t sure whether the words were meant for him or herself, but once again she approached him. And then her mouth met his, pressing softly, gently, utterly warm, her tongue once again flicking out and wiping the crimson beads away.

He stood very still, savoring the feel of her, that honeysuckle scent. He had to fist his hands at his sides to keep from grabbing her and holding on forever. Where she licked, he tingled…ached…but it was a good ache. Don’t stop, he thought. Never stop.

But stop she did. She raised her head, eyelids at half-mast, expression blissful. “Delicious.”

“You can have more if you want it,” he croaked out, tilting his head to reveal more of his neck. If this was how he would feel when she bit him, he was ready.

“Yes, I—no.” She shook her head and backtracked again. “No. I can’t. Why did you let me do that? Why would you ask me to do it again? Have you no sense? Do you want to be my blood-slave? Addicted to my bite, unable to think of anything else?”

“I won’t become addicted,” he said, praying it was true.

“How do you know?”

He didn’t have an answer, so he ignored the question. “Does being bitten hurt?”

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “I’m told it can feel quite wonderful,” she said—and then she disappeared.

He blinked, tried not to panic. Looked left, right.

“But liking it will be the least of your worries,” she said from behind him.

He spun.

Victoria had one shoulder pressed against the trunk of a tree. “You shouldn’t tempt me to do it, you know.”

He sighed. “Would drinking from me once cause me to become a slave?”

“No. It takes multiple feedings. But I will not bite you.” There at the end, her voice rose with determination. “Ever.”

“All right.” He studied her, doing his best to keep his heartbeat under control. She looked ready to bolt and never return. Dropping the subject seemed wise. For the moment. No reason to tell her that she would indeed bite him, whether she changed her mind or not. “How did you move so quickly?”

“All of my kind are able to do so.” With barely a breath, she added, “What are you doing here, Aden? This forest is dangerous for humans.”

Why was the forest dangerous for humans? When he realized what he’d just pondered, he shook his head. It was weird being referred to as a human. Even though that’s what he was. “I was looking for you. You left so quickly the other night and I have so many questions.”

“Questions I probably can’t answer.” She plucked a leaf from the tree, crumpled it in her hand and dropped the pieces. They floated to the ground, twisting and twirling.

Curious as he was, he couldn’t allow himself to give up. Rather than push, however, he decided to ask something innocent, something easy. Hopefully, answering him would become second nature to Victoria so he could then tackle the tougher questions. His doctors had used that method on him a time or two.

“Why do you wear robes? I would think you’d want to wear something modern and blend in.”

“Blending in has never been our goal.” She shrugged. “Besides, robes are what my father prefers.”

“And you always do what he says?”

“Those who disobey him end up wishing they were dead.” She turned away. “I should go.”

“Don’t,” he rushed out, stepping toward her. “Wait. Stay with me. Just a little longer. I’ve…missed you.”

That’s not treating a girl like crap, Caleb suddenly piped up.

We’ve talked about this, Eve said. Your crap theory is crap.